I Want To Know Your Heartbeat
by SereneCalamity
Summary: The omega with flowers in his hair and wearing the lavender crop top was the prettiest smelling person Richie had ever come across. Reddie. A/B/O. Oneshot.


**Okay! So! I've been working on this for a while. It's my first ABO fic, so, merp. Be prepared. But I hope you enjoy :) Any mistakes are obviously my own and there's some liberties taken, as with everything, although the thing I'm thinking of is the dates of the My Chemical Romance concert, but we're living in a fanfic world, baby!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. **

"What are you doing, Richie Roo?" Beverly Marsh teased, her cheeks flushed red from exertion and most _definitely_ from alcohol. "Why aren't you _dancing_?"

"I was fucking dancing with you! And you kept standing on my feet and then you hit me in the face!" Richie Tozier protested, lifting up a foot and trying to wave it around and point to it, the _specific_ foot that Beverly had trampled on at least four times while they were dancing. The throbbing wasn't too bad though, through the dark, scuffed boots that he was wearing, but he needed another drink before he kept on dancing.

"Aw, poor Richie," Beverly hummed out, grabbing his cheek and pinching it, in a way that made his inner Alpha feel a little territorial about, having his space invaded, but since it was Beverly, he didn't react. "Let's get you another drink," she decided, flinging an arm around his shoulders and tugging him toward the tacky straw hutt that was set up to serve drinks. Richie honestly wasn't sure how this party was still managing to go ahead, it was only a matter of time before it got shut down by the cops and someone was probably going to get written up for selling liquor on the beach without a licence because the drunk sorority girls in toga dresses _definitely_ didn't have a permit, but he would roll with it for now. The drinks were watered down, but they were cheap, so he was happy.

"Where's Mikey at?" Richie asked, looking over his shoulder for the third member of their trio, but there had to be over two hundred people gathered on the beach, at the cliff face, and with all the mingled scents it was hard to discern Mike Hanlon's, especially a muted Beta scent.

"He was talking to some guy," Beverly shrugged a shoulder. "Or two guys, maybe." A lewd smile spread across Richie's face and he opened his mouth to say something but Beverly was already smacking a hand over his mouth and making a face. "Beep beep, Rich!" She announced as they moved up in the queue for their drinks.

"I was just gonna say good on Mike, ya know, it's been a while. He's been in a funk over that asshole Alpha for a while, so if he's gonna get his dick wet with one—or _two_—others, then fuck yes, all the power to him," Richie wiggled his eyebrows and Beverly sighed, but there was a fond expression on her face. Her hair was getting longer again, so her curls were getting a bit heavier and weren't quite as tight and in the setting sun, they looked all golden, and kind of like a halo around her head. Richie couldn't help a small, fond smile of his own, and sometimes he wondered if things would just be _easier_ if he was attracted to Alphas.

And to females, that would have to be important as well.

"Stop making gooey faces at me, Richie," Beverly made a gagging noise before deciding to _reinforce_ how she was feeling and sticking a finger in her mouth. "Any thoughts that you're having, you can just _banish_ them."

"Banish them, huh?" Richie snorted and then he turned to look toward the girls behind the make shift counter, now they were at the front of the queue. "Uh, I'll have another beer, and..." he drifted off and waited for Beverly to order her own drink, and she ended up deciding on something pink with a colourful paper straw. "I guess at least they're not using plastic straws," Richie hummed as he poked at Beverly's straw. "Saving the turtles and all."

"Yeah, but—red solo cups are plastic," Beverly rolled her eyes. "And look at the litter everywhere. They ain't saving shit, and we're all complicit." She actually looked sad as she stared down at her drink, nothing like the drunk and fun-loving Beverly that had been singing to Shakira just a few minutes ago and stamping on Richie's toes. Richie put his finger underneath the red solo cup that she was holding and lifted it up, encouraging her to put it to her lips and then tip it back until she drank half of it, and when she put her drink back down, she looked a bit happier again. "Will you dance with me, Richie Roo?" She cooed at him, reaching out to pull at his curls, which were getting longer by the day.

"Only if you promise not to call me that again," Richie attempted to bargain and Beverly laughed in his face.

"_Never_!" She spat at him, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the throngs of people.

To be fair, he knew that it was a lost cause, Beverly had been calling Richie 'Richie Roo' since they were three and it came out for like 'Reeshee Roo' and he had a feeling that when she was asking him to be her Maid of Honor, she would be addressing him as Richie Roo.

Fuck it, when he gave his Maid of Honor speech—which would undoubtedly have everyone in tears because it would be the best damn Maid of Honor speech given ever—he would bring up the time that she got drunk on lukewarm wine coolers and had thrown up in her most expensive boots, and had then _worn_ those boots home from the party that night, _without_ tipping out her vomit.

"Oh, Mike!" Beverly suddenly shouted, coming to a standstill, and Richie looked in the direction that she was looking, spotting their friend quickly. He was only with one guy, a thin curly haired boy who looked as though he was their age, and he looked like maybe he was an Alpha or a Beta. Although, he very well _could_ be an Omega, Richie wasn't an asshole who thought that everyone had to fit into the certain physical appearance box of their secondary gender, but there was just something in the way that he was holding himself that seemed more like an Alpha or a Beta.

"We should go meet his friend," Richie decided, not bothering to wait for Beverly's answer, because either she would follow his lead, or she would decide to stay and dance, but either way, she would do what she wanted. Mike turned around to look back at Richie before he got too close, obviously able to smell the familiar Alpha even with his less sensitive senses, and he gave him a smile and and a wave. The boy next to him looked at him with a small smile, eyes flicking between Richie and over his shoulder, and Richie knew that Beverly was there with him. "Hey there, Mikey!" Richie greeted him, throwing an arm around Mikey's shoulder, hand brushing against his neck in a subconscious gesture of scent marking. "Who's your friend here?"

"This is Stan," Mike said with a smile, leaning a little into Richie's side. "Stan this is Richie and Beverly."

"Hi," Stan smiled politely at them both, although his eyes kept going back to the way Richie's arm was wrapped around Mike and his hand was resting against his neck. Richie's eyebrows pulled together for a moment before he let his hand slide further along Mike's shoulders, away from the Betas neck, even though it had always been natural for him to scent mark those most closest to him. He understood, though, that it did sometimes make their relationship seem like something it wasn't, since scent marking was generally only among family and bonded pairs. Mike and Beverly _were_ family, though.

"Stan's here with some friends," Mike continued, not seeming to notice the subtle movement, or the way Stan had relaxed a bit now that Richie's hand was no longer against Mike's neck, although it was a bit strange, because there was just something about their body language that didn't seem as though they were particularly interested in each other in _that_ way. Mike could be difficult to read at times, but Richie had known the boy for years and he knew when Mike was attracted to someone, and he wasn't attracted to the other boy—who was definitely a Beta, not an Alpha—but Stan still seemed to have been a bit put off when Richie had scent marked him.

"Do you and your friends go to Cal State as well?" Beverly asked, leaning heavily against Richie's other side, tipping her head against his shoulder and nuzzling a little, spreading her own scent against him.

"Yeah," Stan nodded. "Well—me and Eddie do, Bill deferred for a year to work, and then he ended up realizing that he had no idea what he wanted to study, and so he's just decided to keep working until he figures it out."

"Where's he working?" Mike almost stumbled over his words, and Richie's eyebrows raised a little as he realized that the one that Mike was interested in was Stan's _friend_, this Bill guy, and maybe that was why Stan had been watching Richie so closely with Mike, because he was trying to feel out if Mike was single or not.

"He works at this old book store, not far from campus," Stan smiled. "He's actually the manager there now."

"What's it called?" Richie asked, even though he wasn't ever going to set foot in a book store for fun, but Mike was one of his best friends, and he looked out for his friends, so he wasn't going to make Mike ask all the questions here.

"_Once Upon A Novel_," Stan replied and Mike nudged Richie subtly with his elbow by way of thanks. "What are you guys studying?" Beverly and Mike both started talking then, laughing and chattering easily, and usually Richie would be joining in because he was passionate about his own degree and doing well in it—_actually_ doing well in school for the first time in his life—but a scent had caught in the wind and was coming their way and it made his body tense a little as he tried to find the source. He turned his head to the side and forced himself not to huff in frustration with the amount of people who were surrounding them—it was going to be close to impossible to pin point where the scent was coming from.

Except then it came again—like fresh rain and rosewater and just a tinge of something a bit sharper, something like citrus—and again and Richie's arm dropped from around Mike's shoulders as he looked around, not even trying to hide the fact that he was looking for someone now.

"Rich?" Beverly asked, sounding amused. "You alright?"

"Uh, yeah," Richie mumbled, eyes still searching. They rested on a group who were getting close nearby, four girls, two who were definitely Omegas, but he got strong scents of lavender and vanilla and the cloying smell of perfume that they were wearing that was bruising their true scent, and he knew that it wasn't them and his eyes kept moving.

And then he found the source of the scent.

There was an Alpha coming toward them, with floppy brown hair and a grin on his face, wearing a thin, blue jersey and a pair of shorts, and on his back with his arms twined around his neck was an Omega.

An absolutely _beautiful_ Omega, with dark hair and a flower crown perched precariously on top of his head, and he was wearing a purple cropped top and a pair of jean shorts that were cut off just underneath his bum, showing off slim, tanned legs, and a beautiful water-colour tattoo that twined its way around his left calf. The pair were getting closer and closer and it was clear that the Omega was more than a little drunk, from how his eyes were tinged a bit red and how he was tugging his arms around the Alpha's neck, but the Alpha was laughing and didn't seem to care.

Richie didn't realize that he was staring until the pair were right in front of them and the Omega was staring _right_ at him, no longer smiling, his lips pressed together and his eyebrows drawn downward, and he realized that he was probably being really rude, blatantly watching him.

"I f-found an E-Eddie!" The Alpha announced, not seeming to feel the tension as he knelt forward a little so that the Omega could slide off his back and land a little shakily on the ground. The Alpha looked toward Richie and Beverly questioningly, although he didn't look as annoyed as the Omega did with their presence, which was both good _and_ bad, because Richie wasn't looking at pissing anyone off, but he also really wished that he didn't look like a creep, and so he forced himself to smile at the Alpha as Stan spoke up.

"This is Richie and Beverly, they're Mike's friends," Stan introduced them. "And this is Bill and Eddie." Bill stepped forward first with a smile, holding out a hand politely, while Eddie hung back, looking between Richie and Beverly with suspicious eyes.

"Oh, hey," Bill said easily, which instantly relaxed Richie, because sometimes Alpha's were assholes, especially when meeting other Alpha's for the first time, trying to flood the air with their pheromones and exert their dominance over the situation. But this guy seemed laid back as he shook Richie's hand and then reached out for Beverly's, still smiling widely. That was also a big positive, given for stupid, sexist reasons, women Alpha's were generally viewed as less important than males, and it seemed as though the only reason Bill had shaken Richie's hand first was simply because he was closest to him and Beverly was swaying around to the music still, drink tightly in her hand.

But then Richie looked at Eddie, wondering if he was going to get to shake his hand as well, but Eddie was no longer looking at him, focus on Stan and tugging at his hand.

"_Sta-an_, I wanna get pizza," he stated.

"We just ate!" Stan replied, but there was a grin on his face and he gently untangled his hand from Eddie's and slipped it around Eddie's shoulders instead, tucking the Omega comfortably under his arm, as though he belonged there. Richie pressed his lips together and looked away, and he noticed Beverly press up against his back, the hand that wasn't holding her drink pressing to his waist. "Also, where did this come from?" Stan nodded at the flower crown on Eddie's head. "Did you steal it?"

"No!" Eddie said adamantly before narrowing his eyes and then shrugging. "I look cuter than those sorority girls did anyway." Bill let out a laugh and then his focus was completely on Mike.

"U-um—I think we're probably going to go now," Bill said. "I have to open up at the s-shop tomorrow." Richie couldn't help but notice the way Stan and Eddie were looking at their friend with interest and small smiles on their faces, and he looked back toward Bill and Mike, mainly because he didn't want Eddie to catch him staring again. The disappointment on Mike's face was clear, even for people who didn't know him well, despite how hard it could be to read him and the fact that Beta's didn't give off many pheromones, so it was difficult to go by scent most of the time. "C-could I give you my number?"

"Yes!" Mike responded, a lot louder than necessary and obviously than he had expected, because his cheeks flushed red and he cleared his throat. "Uh, yes," he repeated, and Richie couldn't help but snort in amusement.

"Well, this has all been fun," Eddie hummed out, his tone disinterested but a small smirk curving his pink lips upward. "But can we go get food now?" Bill grinned and pulled out his phone, quickly exchanging numbers with Mike and then he was waving at Richie and Beverly and then the trio was walking off, Eddie in between them, hips swaying a little from side to side and his scent trailing behind him.

And that was that.

Richie had just met the most beautiful boy with the most incredible scent and Eddie hadn't even given him a second glance.

* * *

Richie let out a huff as he pulled off his headset and tossed it onto the desk with a lot less care than he really should with such expensive equipment that _wasn't_ his to just throw around. But it was after eleven and he was the only one in the recording booth, so there was no one there to see him do it, so he just left the headset on the desk and slumped forward, banging his head on the desk and not even caring. He was being over dramatic, but even if there was anyone around, he would _still_ be doing it and no one would be surprised.

He had told Laura Twiss that he would cover her night at the schools radio station because more money was always a welcome thing, but it meant tonight was his third night working in a row and he was _bored_. There were regulars who called in when he was on air and there was good banter with some of them, but a couple just wanted to ring to flirt and hear their own voices being played back through the speakers and request old *NSYNC and Westlife songs.

Not that Richie had anything against boy bands, his heart had belonged to the beautiful Harry Styles for a couple of years in high school and maybe still returned to when he saw new live performances released, but he had always been more of a Backstreet Boys fan, and there was only so many times he could play _My Love_ without wanting to throw up.

There may also had been the fact that as he had been on the way over to the building where the station was when he had got a text from Beverly saying that Mike had invited them out for drinks with Bill, Stan and _Eddie_. Except by this stage, Richie had already committed to working, and he wasn't going to bail on Laura, and so now he was stuck in the recording booth while his friends got to be out spending time with Eddie. Beverly had obviously felt sorry for him when he had replied and said that she'd talk him up in his absence, make sure she made him look good.

Beverly was the best.

The song by Little Mix was drawing to an end and he picked up his headset, slipping it back on and adjusting his microphone, glad that at least it was Laura's shift and it wasn't his proper talk-back set, so he didn't need to pay too much attention, and he cleared his throat before talking into his microphone. He took a couple of calls and chatted idly about the Omega Rights march that was happening in a couple of weeks time, encouraging _everyone_ to get out there because it was about equality, and then he moved onto the next requested song.

Just before midnight, Richie got a snapchat from Beverly, and he opened it as he was playing the final song of the evening, his eyes widening as he saw it was a hazy, off-centre video of Eddie, the boys eyes narrowed in concentration and his tongue poked out as he held a dart in his hand. He threw the dart and Beverly's camera moved and zoomed in as it hit the bulls-eye, and then the sound got a bit muffled from cheers and groans that were too close to Beverly's phone. Richie sighed as the video ended, because it seemed as though his friends were all having a good and they were spending time with _Eddie_, which made him all sorts of sad, so he moped around and probably sounded completely off-beat as he signed off for the night and did a half-assed job at tidying up before leaving the building.

It didn't take long for Richie to get to his just off-campus housing, jacket collar turned up against the cool night air and hands shoved into his pockets, and he wished that he had remembered to bring his headphones so that he could listen to something as he walked across campus. He was on the third floor of the building, right at the end, and he had a room to himself, like most Alphas did, and he unlocked the door just as his phone pinged. He pulled it out and saw it was another snapchat, and when he opened it, and now that he was all alone, he allowed himself to let out a pitiful groan, smacking his head against the door.

It was a selfie of Beverly and Eddie, in surprisingly good focus and light for two people at a bar who had been drinking for the past couple of hours. It looked like Eddie was wearing eye shadow and a little bit of gloss, although his lips could just be reddened and shiny from whatever it was that he was drinking.

Beverly _knew_ what she was doing, sending these pictures to him.

Richie grumbled under his breath as he responded with a bunch of crying emojis and then stripped out of his clothes and fell into his single bed, his inner Alpha restless.

* * *

"Alright, so, Stan is doing a photography degree!" Beverly was saying as she moved her fingers expertly over the hem of the shirt that Richie was in. "Which is perfect, because I can take a good photo, but not great, and I would rather be watching what you're doing and that the clothes are falling right than focusing on getting a good photo, even though I _need_ the photos and videos for my course." Richie used to get worried that Beverly was going to stab him with one of the pins that she was using to make alterations to her outfits when she talked so much, seemingly distracted, but she never did, and so by this point, he didn't even tense. "So he's going to be here in about twenty minutes to help with the shoot."

"Stan seems like a cool dude," Richie noted, even though he had only met him the one time, at the beach.

"He is," Beverly replied, and given Richie's eyes were bouncing around the room and not looking down at her, he missed the way she looked up at him briefly from under her eyelashes. "He's also bringing Eddie." Richie's body jerked a bit at that, and then Beverly _did_ stab him with a pin, right in the ankle.

"Ouch!" Richie hissed out and Beverly rolled her eyes.

"Oh, fuck off, that was your own fault," she muttered as she waited for him to settle back down before getting back to work.

"Is that who _those_ are for?" Richie jabbed a finger over to where there were more clothes piled up on a table, just in a very different style to anything that Richie had been trying on and getting adjusted.

"Yup," Beverly smirked as she glanced up at Richie before looking back at the hemline, noting the way her best friends mouth dropped open, looking almost betrayed. "Alright, you're all done."

"Wait, Eddie is coming here, and he's _modeling with me_?" Richie spat out and Beverly finished with the hem and straightened up.

"He's a good contrast to your features," Beverly replied. "I was kind of surprised, actually, when I did the fitting with him yesterday—he can be all sassy and full of bite, but he also embraces his delicate, Omega side," she shrugged a shoulder a few times. "I mean, it sounds kind of—it's not fair of me to try and put him in any box because of his secondary gender. That would literally be the opposite of equality," she made a face to herself and Richie arched an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe that would be a good thing not to talk to him about, if you're looking for pointers."

"Right, so, I just want to run all of this back," Richie's eyes were narrow. "You've hung out with Eddie enough times to know that he's _sassy_ and _full of bite_ but _embraces his delicate, Omega side_ when I've only been in his general vicinity_ one time_?! I thought we were _friends_, Bev—this is potentially the love of my _life_ that I'm being deprived of!" Beverly watched him with a flat expression, unimpressed by his overreaction, used to it from their years of friendship.

"You don't know that he's the love of your life," she retorted. "Just because you think he smells pretty."

"_So_ pretty," Richie added.

"Whatever," Beverly stated. "I'm not just gonna tell you every time we hang out, and it's hardly ever happened anyway. But he's going to be here soon, and he's going to be taking photos with us for the next few hours, and you're gonna get to be all around him the whole time, and I thought that would make up for not being able to see him since the beach, and the reason I didn't tell you until now is because I didn't want you to freak out and make this whole place stink of anxiety," she waved a hand around the small studio that they had rented, the usual one that they came to when Richie was modelling for her. "I'm pretty sure that's the last thing you _or_ Eddie need." Richie just made a face at her, but then he lifted his nose in the air and smelt the air around them, not bothering to hide the fact that he was trying to scent if his anxious pheromones had been enough to stain the fresh air of the room.

"Is it obvious?" He couldn't help but ask after a moment and Beverly rolled her eyes.

"It's not _yet_, but if you're really worried about it, go and open one of the windows," she told him. "I think there's one of those scent blocker plug-in things somewhere, but it'll just be one of those cheap ones." Richie wrinkled up his nose at that, and chose to just go over and open a window. Scent blockers were pretty common in public places, and the university was required to keep them available in most of the rooms and dorms so that they just needed to plugged in, and a lot of public places chose to have them, but in rooms like this, when it was just Richie and Beverly, they didn't bother. It was disconcerting not being able to scent each other, and scent blockers often had a subtle but unpleasant scent to them, especially the cheap ones that the university had, not wanting to fork out more for a better brand. "_This_ is why I didn't tell you earlier," Beverly said knowingly.

"Yeah, yeah," Richie rolled his eyes, turning back around to face Beverly and smoothed his hands out over the billowing silk shirt that he was wearing. "What?" He asked, looking down at his outfit, knowing the expression that she was wearing and not sure he liked it all that much. She just smirked back at him and looked down at her phone and tapped out a text to someone before looking back at Richie.

"Okay, so first outfit I want you in is the sheer black shirt with the floral patterned pants and just keep the black boots on. I think you're going to be in the black boots for most of the outfit changes, okay?" Beverly said, and there was a change in her tone, one that Richie heard when she was slipping into her 'designer mode' and so he switched off the pouting so that he could help her as much as he could, because that was what he was here to do.

"Yeah, no problem," he replied.

"Maybe change behind the screen since we're not gonna be here alone—" Beverly was cut off as the door opened for the room and Stan walked in.

And Eddie.

It was probably a good thing that Stan had walked in first, so that Richie could actually process that he was in the room with them, otherwise he wouldn't have even realized because once Eddie was in the room, his brain went offline for a couple of minutes.

Eddie smelt like _sunshine _and _freshly fallen rain _and _delicate roses_ and he smiled brightly when he saw Beverly, bouncing as he looked around the room and took in the light set up and the privacy screen in the corner of the room and the outfits that were all laid out on the long table. He was wearing a pair of cut off denim shorts so that his legs were on display, like last time, and a pair of purple vans, and a loose grey shirt with pink love hearts dotted over it, and he was just...The prettiest person Richie had ever seen and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to act normal for the next few hours.

And he had a tattoo on his ankle, right over the bone, an outline of a flower, on the opposite leg from the bigger, water-colour tattoo, that Richie hadn't seen when they had been at the beach, so that was _two_ tattoo's now, one on each leg. Not that he was counting.

"Rich?" Beverly sounded amused as Richie turned his head toward her, blinking slowly as he realized that he was getting expectant looks from the others in the room, even from Eddie.

"Uh, sorry," Richie blinked and let out a rueful laugh, hand instinctively lifting to rub over his face but then stopping himself at the last minute because he had make up on and Beverly would probably slap him if he smudged it. "Hey," he smiled widely at the two who had joined them, although his eyes were definitely more on Eddie, even though Eddie was wandering over to the table with the clothes and not looking back at him.

"Thanks for offering to help," Beverly was saying to Stan, who had an expensive camera hanging around his neck, more expensive than the camera that Beverly usually had to book to use from the schools supply, so Richie guessed that it was his own private one. The photos would probably come out so much better, which was good for Beverly.

"It's fine," Stan replied and Richie was half-listening as he watched Eddie's fingers trail down the silk of the pink, wide-legged pants that he was going to be wearing at some point through their shoot today. Beverly had used other people before, had other people model for her, even though Richie was the one she most commonly used, and Richie had taken pictures with a lot of them and while it had sometimes been fun, he had never really looked forward to it, or been anxious about it, it had sort of just been a thing that had _happened_.

Well, he was both looking forward to it _and_ anxious now.

"Okay, so Rich knows what his first outfit is, so he can get dressed first," Beverly spoke a bit louder, and Richie knew she was doing that on purpose to bring his attention back to the presence. "Did you bring your make up with you?" She asked, attention turning to Eddie.

"Yup," Eddie turned around with a smile and there was this little bounce in his step that was absolutely adorable. "My foundation and concealer and stuff, and some lipstick and eye shadow." Richie blinked, lips parting and Eddie's eyes slid to him, eyes narrowing a little, and Richie wondered what he was thinking, why he suddenly looked a bit unhappy when he looked at Richie.

"Okay, can you do your base make up while I get your first outfit sorted, and then you'll get changed once Richie is done?" Beverly asked, slipping back into her professional mode. Eddie nodded and pulled over a seat to sit in front of the full length mirror that Beverly always had Richie haul to the rooms that she was having her shoots in. Richie watched as he began pulling things out of the purple make up bag that he hadn't even realized he was holding in his hand, and he was about to start applying some foundation when his eyes flicked in the mirror and met Richie's in his reflection.

Richie swallowed hard and he blinked, and he _knew_ that his scent was coming off a bit stronger suddenly.

"Rich," Beverly was in front of him and nodding her head at the screen at the back of the room, but there was something else in her eyes, something a lot more pointed, and Richie knew that he had to stop staring.

"Yup," he muttered, going to the table and grabbing his first outfit from the table and heading to the privacy screen at the back of the room. He got dressed quickly and carefully, because Beverly put so much care and love into each of her outfits, and he heard music start up outside.

"Ooh, I love this song!" Eddie spoke up from the other side of the room and Richie smiled because he did as well. It was a new Camila Cabello one that was a total bop, even if he knew that it was going to get be totally over played and he was _definitely_ going to hate it in three weeks time. Richie slid into the dark pants that had golden floral patterns up either side of the legs and buttoned them up over his toned stomach. The pants were so well fitted because Beverly tailored them just for him, and the sheer top that he was wearing tucked into the waistband and flowed easily around him. The clothes that Beverly designed were never clothes that Richie would wear on a daily basis, but there had been some that he had borrowed when he had gone out for birthday dinners with his friends to resturants, and he couldn't wait for her to graduate and for designers to snap her up and to see other people wearing her things on a regular basis.

"We're starting off with the more subtle colours, the pinks and purples for you, so just this lipstick," Beverly was saying to Eddie as Richie stepped out from behind the screen. Beverly looked up and shot him a quick thumbs up before turning her attention back to Eddie, who was applying a light pink lipstick to his mouth, and Stan was looking at Richie with a curious expression. Richie arched an eyebrow and Stan's expression smoothed and he shrugged a shoulder, looking back down at his camera. "Alright, go and put these on, okay?" Beverly said to Eddie, handing him the pink silk pants and a cream blouse and nodding at the privacy screen. As Eddie walked past Richie, their eyes met briefly, but then Eddie kept on walking with his head held high. "You look great, as always, Richie Roo," Beverly smirked as she made a few adjustments to the shirt, unbuttoning the top button and pursing her lips. "Don't be a creep and stare at him," she added, her voice a lot quieter this time and Richie raised his eyebrows, ready to say something when Beverly stepped back. "Okay, Stan? Could you start with some pictures of Richie?"

It didn't end up being as..._Overwhelming_ as Richie had expected.

Still life changing, yes, but surprisingly easy to adjust to.

Richie got into the flow of things with Stan, who was quiet but obviously good with reading the chemistry between Beverly and Richie and knowing what Beverly's vision was for the photoshoot, even though this was the first time he had ever worked with her, and he had the occasional snarky one liner that Richie appreciated.

Then Eddie came out, Richie was pretty sure he had died and gone to heaven, and _then_ Beverly had thrown them into a duo photoshoot where Richie was _not only_ surrounded by Eddie's mouthwatering scent, but also by _him_. Their arms brushed, then their legs, then Beverly was asking Richie to put an arm around Eddie's waist and bring him in close, and...It all just kind of flowed.

They were both a bit stiff, and Eddie seemed hesitant to begin with, Richie could taste the tinge of anxiousness in the air every now and then as they were first moving around, but after the first few minutes, Eddie seemed to turned the music up and an old My Chemical Romance song started playing and there was a laugh from Eddie at the change up in music genre, and Richie had to admit that he liked the change as well, especially when he felt Eddie giggle against his side.

"I fucking _loved_ MCR," Richie commented, hoping to start some kind of communication between himself and Eddie.

"Gerard Way was one of my first crushes," Eddie admitted with a wry smile and Richie couldn't help the proud grin that crossed his face, and he caught a glimpse of Beverly rolling her eyes, but he didn't pay much attention.

"I missed out on tickets for their reunion tour, though, which would have been great," Richie continued and it looked as though he might have gotten a reply, but then Beverly was calling out for them to focus and stop chattering.

Stan took photos of Eddie by himself, and Richie pouted a little because there seemed to be flowers and a floppy hand involved from Beverly's bag of props but he didn't get to see those pictures because he had to go behind the privacy screen for his next change of clothes. By the time he came out, Eddie was taking his place behind the screen, but he shot him a quick smile as he brushed past him with his next change of clothes, and that made Richie feel lighter inside.

With the next outfit change, things were looser and easier between them, and Eddie let himself curl a little closer to Richie when Beverly asked them to step up close, and then Richie dipped his head a bit daringly, nose brushing against Eddie's temple and there was a shout from Beverly.

"_Hold that_!" She practically shrieked to be heard over Adele warbling about_ finding someone like you_, and Stan was snapping so many photos the shutter just sounded as though it was constantly being held down, and Richie's breath caught in his throat. Their bodies were turned toward each other—Richie in a midnight blue, wide-legged pant suit, the jacket a sort of cape thing that Beverly had somehow managed to pull off and Eddie in soft greens, purples and yellows, a blouse with a pussy bow and high waist, narrow-legged pants that showed off his tiny waist and curves—but Eddie was facing forward, with one hand gripping Richie's arm that was closest to the camera. Richie wasn't facing forward, though, he was facing Eddie, head tilted forward, eyes partially closed, probably looking a little _too_ intimate and caught up in the moment.

But then Eddie turned his head slightly, upward and to the side, and Richie's nose was suddenly pressed against the curve of Eddie's eyebrow instead and it looked like Eddie's eyes had closed.

"Perfect, perfect, perfect," Beverly was chanting, mainly under her breath, and Stan was still clicking away. Richie was trying to ignore the fact that his nose was now pressed almost uncomfortably against Eddie's face, and his scent was absolutely invading all of his senses now, but it was hard. As much as he didn't _want_ to pull away from Eddie, he was glad when Beverly clapped her hands together. "Okay, we'll get some shots with just you, Eddie, and Rich—you change into your last outfit?" Richie stepped back from Eddie, unable to stop himself from cupping Eddie's elbows as he moved away, giving them a gentle squeeze, and he saw the way Eddie's eyebrows quirked a little.

After they finished, Beverly said that they should all go out for celebratory drinks, which Richie was more than happy to agree with, if it meant spending more time with Eddie. The 'models' changed back into their regular clothes, which made Richie feel more comfortable, back in a worn pair of a skinny jeans and a _In This Moment_ band tee-shirt, but it also made him feel more comfortable seeing Eddie back in his own clothes.

Smelling completely like himself without Beverly's scent wound through the material.

It meant his legs and tattoos were on display and his grey shirt hung loose around his neck and showed off one of his collarbones in a way that made Richie want to bite down and leave a mark in a completely primal manner that he quickly tried to shake out of his head.

One drink turned into two, and then Mike came and joined them after his last class of the day, and then they decided to order a few plates of nachos to share around the table, and just before it arrived, Bill showed up because Eddie had told him to come straight to the pub after he had closed up at _Once Upon A Novel_, and he brought along his quiet work colleague, a Beta with a soothing presence named Ben Hanscom. Vaguely, _somewhere_ in the back of his mind, Richie processed a pointed foot jab under the table that came from Beverly, but he wasn't sure if it was because he was making his interest in Eddie _stupidly_ clear or because she was checking out Ben, but he didn't care.

To begin with, Eddie had been sitting on the opposite side of the booth, but then as more drinks had come, and then they had been joined by more people, after Beverly had asked Eddie to get up so she could slide past him to go to the bathroom, Eddie had moved to sit on the edge of the booth on Richie's side. Their thighs were pressed firmly together and their elbows kept knocking and to begin with, Richie had kept _apologizing_, which was _completely unlike him_, and he knew that Beverly had been shooting him amused looks and snorting, but Eddie just kept rolling his eyes and it didn't seem like he cared, and then he snatched a loaded nacho chip right out of his hand at one point and that was when Richie knew he was a goner.

When Richie went home that night, a lot more sober than he usually was when he went out for drinks with his friends and escorting a _very_ love-and-whiskey drunk Mike to his couch, he had Eddie's number in his phone.

* * *

**_If I have to play another thank you, next again, I'm going to scream._**

_If I have to HEAR to you play thank you, next again, I'm going to scream._

Richie grinned down at the response from Eddie, tapping his finger against the side of his phone before he typed out his reply.

**_You're listening to me, huh, Eds?_**

_I've fucking told you not to call me that!_

**_You didn't answer my question!_**

**_Eds!_**

**_Eddddddddddddddiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee..._**

All that Richie got as a reply were a bunch of the middle finger emojis, which made Richie's grin grow wider, and he nearly missed his cue to start talking again after the very overplayed Ariana Grande song finished playing, catching on just in time.

* * *

Bill asked Mike out two months after they had all met at the beach party, and Mike was almost unbareable to be around in the days that followed. Beverly practically banned him from their shared apartment because she said the only reason she agreed to live with him was because he barely gave off any pheramones, and now he was starting to stink out the whole place just like she did, but her and Richie were happy for him. Bill was sweet and kind and sometimes Beverly and Richie had been overprotective in the past when it had come to Alpha's that Mike had dated, that almost possessive need to look after the ones that they viewed as _theirs_ that came with being an Alpha, but Bill made it easy. He never acted as though he was above Mike, he never acted as though it was a problem that Mike's best friends were both Alpha's and he didn't act as though there was something that Mike was lacking because he wasn't an Omega.

That last thing was the most important.

Some ignorant knotheads still acted as though a Beta would never be able to keep up with their needs as Alphas in the way that Omegas would, because of the differences in their body and biology, and Mike had honestly had a bit of a bad history of ending up attracted to some of those assholes, but Bill wasn't one of them.

With Bill and Mike now seeing each other, it seemed as though their two groups had even more reason to spend time together, which Richie was thankful for, and so he was seeing Eddie at least twice a week now, and that wasn't even counting the little impromptu run-ins where Eddie would sometimes pop up at the building where the recording station was for the radio.

Because he did that.

He just _showed up_ sometimes.

Richie would be taking a call from a rowdy frat brother who wanted him to play a DJ Snake song or a breathy girl who wanted a Lana Del Rey song to be queued up, and then all of a sudden he would pick up on the delicate rosewater and the bright sunshine and the sharper citrus and then Eddie would be coming around the corner, and Richie's day was suddenly ten times better.

Eddie would sometimes be bouncy and happy, sometimes be sassy and snarky, always interesting and adorable, and Richie learned that his favourite colour was baby blue, he _loved_ glitter but he hated to use it because it got absolutely everywhere and he had watched _Lilo & Stitch_ more times than he could count.

* * *

The pictures that Stan had taken and done a quick edit on were submitted first for Beverly's class, and once she had gotten her grade—passing with flying colours, of course—she posted them to her Instagram. Apparently Stan was also talking about using a few of them in one of his classes, very happy with the way that they had turned out. Beverly would also include several in a portfolio that she needed to submit, but that wasn't for a while yet.

Richie hadn't thought twice about re-posting it to his own, making sure to credit the photographer and the designer, like he did whenever he re-posted shots that, and then after only a moment of hesitation, he tagged Eddie in the photo. He stared at his laptop screen for a long few minutes, sitting at the crowded library table that he was sharing with the three other people in his group from Digital Communications class. Then Phoebe Danvers threw a highlighter at him to get his attention because apparently she'd been asking him the same question three times and he had just completely ignored her.

Eddie like his post a couple hours—along with several hundred of Richie's other followers—and added a comment which consisted a bunch of emojis.

There were pink hearts, random road signs, party poppers, the middle finger four times in a row and the heart eyes face.

Richie grinned, not even caring that he looked like an idiot.

* * *

Mike had told both Beverly and Richie that Bill's rut was coming up and that they had decided that they weren't going to spend it together, because their relationship was still so new and certain bonds were made when a rut or a heat was spent together. Not _the_ bond, unless that was done accidentally, but still _a_ bond. They faded reasonably quick if the ones involved didn't spend time together after, but it would still be strong if they were dating, and it could make the relationship _very_ intense, especially so early on.

Mike felt guilty about it, having two Alpha best friends that he had grown up with, and even though he had never experienced a heat or a rut, he knew they could be painful, especially alone, so Beverly and Richie decided that they were going to have a movie night at their place, and they invited the others as well, to try and distract him and make him feel better.

Richie nearly threw the table over when Eddie showed up, looking a little disheveled and smelling of _rut_ and _Alpha_ and _Bill_.

"Hey!" Beverly pinched him in the side to try and draw his attention but Richie ignored her.

He was being stupid and he was well aware of that, but he hadn't realized that he was growling under his breath as Eddie apologized for being late and said that he had to drop off some things at Bill's, but then all eyes slowly turned to Richie and he had to try and swallow the sounds that were escaping. Eddie was looking at him with narrow eyes, and Richie _wanted_ to say sorry, he _wanted_ to smile and change the subject, but his whole body felt tense and on edge, and in the end, Eddie moved to sit down next to Ben.

Stan didn't show up until the first movie finished, and the first thing he did was go to Eddie and give him a tight hug. Richie knew he was staring, but he couldn't stop himself, and he saw the way Eddie's body relaxed as his best friend rubbed his hand down his back.

"Sorry I'm late, I had a tutoring class," he said as he squished between Eddie and the arm of the couch, Richie's narrow eyes on them.

"Did you want a drink or anything?" Beverly asked, playing gracious host even though it was Richie's place, because he was clearly _not_ going to offer.

"Nah, I'm okay," he replied, wrapping an arm around Eddie and tugging the Omega in close to his side. Richie could feel another growl beginning to rise in his throat, but at least this time he had the presence in mind to pick up his beer and swallow down a mouthful to wash it down, although he couldn't stop looking at Eddie. The smaller boy's shoulders were tense, even though Stan was rubbing his shoulder in a way that looked as though he was trying to calm him down, and Richie just felt his Alpha rearing up inside of him, angry and anxious.

"_Ace Ventura_ is up next!" Mike announced, and Richie knew that the others could feel the tension in the room so he was grateful for his best friend for trying to keep things moving, and he _did_ have enough presence to feel a bit bad about being the one contributing to that, but he couldn't stop it. Mike turned on the next movie and there was some chatter as everyone got themselves comfortable for the next movie, but Richie couldn't stop himself from paying close attention to Stan and Eddie.

"Was everything okay when you went by his place?" Stan asked quietly and Eddie nodded.

"Yeah, I told you I would be fine," he replied, words a little clipped and neck held at an almost unnatural angle, as though he as forcing himself to only look forward, and not glance around at all.

Richie wondered if he was avoiding looking in _his_ direction.

That hurt, but it was fair.

He knew he was currently flooding the room with frustrated and _angry_ pheromones that even the Betas with them would be able to smell, Eddie would _definitely_ be able to scent them.

They weren't even half an hour into the movie before Eddie was standing up, rearranging the baggy hoodie that he was wearing.

For the first time, Richie realized that it was his hoodie and his eyes widened.

"Thanks for inviting me over," Eddie mumbled, glancing around the room but his eyes skimming over Richie. "I've got some papers due soon, so I better go." Beverly made a disappointed sound, but no one tried to stop Eddie from going as they called out their goodbyes. Stan didn't stay for much longer after that, and after the movie, Ben left, so that it was only Beverly and Mike left in Richie's apartment.

"Nice," Beverly said sarcastically. "Nicely done."

Richie just groaned and buried his face into the couch cushions.

Then he couldn't help himself from grabbing his phone and sending off a quick text, because in the past month or so, when they parted ways at night, Richie would always check in with Eddie that he had gotten home safe. _And_ that he had locked his door, after the first time Richie had gone by his apartment and found the front door slightly ajar, even though Eddie said he'd only just come home and left it like that because he knew that Richie was going to be there shortly.

**_Lock your door._**

It was rude and as soon as he sent the message, he felt like an asshole, but there wasn't much he could do about it now. He was gripping his phone so tightly his knuckles were bloodless and he was actually pretty sure he could feel his phone creak a little.

_Done_.

The clipped response came ten minutes later and Richie barely stopped himself from throwing his phone on the ground.

* * *

_Five days_ went by and Richie didn't see Eddie. That wasn't a long time for the group of them not to hang out, but Richie and Eddie had been finding their way to each other more often than that, even if it wasn't for long. It was also a long time not to be hearing from him, because Richie didn't even get any messages from the Omega either, not since that last one confirming that he had locked his door when he had gotten home.

Admittedly, he didn't _send_ any, because he knew one of the first things he needed to do was apologize and he couldn't do that by text or meme, even if that was his preferred method.

He was walking toward the library on Friday afternoon—somewhere he didn't usually spend any time by choice, unless he was doing a group project—when he caught a whiff of Eddie's scent. Fresh and airy and it made his Alpha stretch inside of him, and press up against his ribs. He couldn't help the way his step quickened as he covered the stairs and opened the double doors of the library, doing a quick sweep of the place even though it could potentially take ages to find Eddie given how big the library was.

But luck was on his side, because his eyes fell on Eddie, who was sitting at a desk with only one other girl who was at the far end, his hair looking soft and curling a little at the end, and his shoulders slumped, and he _was wearing Richie's hoodie again_.

Richie wasn't even sure when he had managed to get his hoodie, but he would willingly give Eddie his entire wardrobe.

He approached the table slowly, knowing that Eddie would be able to smell him as he walked toward him, and he could see Eddie's shoulders stiffening as he got closer. Richie swallowed hard as he stopped beside Eddie's chair, and he really wanted to reach out and touch Eddie's neck, cup the back of it and soothe his fingers up and down the sides to try and calm Eddie down because he knew that the Omega was nervous, but he didn't, because right now that would be crossing a line, settling for lightly rubbing the backs of his knuckles up and down Eddie's bicep and waiting.

"Hey," Eddie mumbled, half turning his head but not looking up, so that he was looking at where Richie's hand was still touching him.

"Hey," Richie replied quietly. It felt weird, being quiet, because that went against every default setting that Richie had but it just felt different when he was with Eddie. He wanted to be gentle and make sure things were okay between them and, above all, know that Eddie was alright. "Do you mind if I sit?" Richie asked, and his hand was still pressed against Eddie, stealing what little contact he could.

"Whatever," Eddie shrugged, but then he kicked lightly at one of the legs of the seat next to him so that it slid out on the carpet.

"Thanks," Richie answered and he put down his beat up laptop covered in band stickers and the course book that he had brought onto the table top. "I'll be back soon," he said and Eddie nodded, and then Richie finally had to pull his hand away, tucking his hand in his pocket as he headed toward the books at the back of the library, the main reason that he had come in today. He found the book he needed and then walked back to the table, noting that the girl who had been there before was now gone, so it was just him and Eddie there now.

He still chose to sit down at the sit directly next to Eddie.

And he _tried_ not to preen about the fact that Eddie smelt like their two scents intertwined.

It wasn't strong, but then Richie had always heard from others that his scent wasn't a strong one unless he was particularly worked up, and he didn't believe in things like _fate _or _destiny_ but his scent complimented Eddie's just right.

Eddie smelt like roses and sunshine and fresh rain with a twist of lime.

Richie smelt like an open meadow and woodsy, like damp bark and earthy and just a little chocolaty.

They _smelt good together_ and Eddie must know that, given he was wrapped up in Richie's hoodie.

"Eds?" Richie began and there was a grunt from Eddie, a narrow eyed look from him that made Richie smile in spite of himself because he knew how much Eddie hated the nickname, which always just spurred him on to use it again and again. "I'm sorry about the other night. I'm sorry I was—"

"Acting like a knothead?" Eddie supplied, and he finally looked up properly, meeting Richie's eyes with his warm brown ones. Richie felt the fingers around his heart begin to loosen, he hadn't even realized how tightly they had been gripping him, holding him hostage, but as soon as Eddie looked up at him, with his gentle, expressive eyes and his pursed, perfect lips, everything just felt as though it clicked into place and released his heart, allowing it to beat properly in his chest.

"Yeah. Yeah, acting like a knothead," Richie nodded. Eddie regarded him for a moment, and Richie waited for his response, but instead, a moment later, he felt Eddie's shoe press up against his under the table. He wished that Eddie's feet were bare, and that his were as well, so their skin could be pressed against each others, but he would take what he could. "I'm sorry," Richie added and Eddie's lips curled upwards.

They actually studied together, Richie getting more work done in the next hour than he usually did in a full afternoon of studying with Beverly and Mike, and as they were packing up their things, Eddie's ankle pressed pointedly against Richie's calf, not looking at him as he packed up all of his coloured gel pens.

"I was just dropping off some food and water and things for Bill," Eddie's voice was quiet and Richie stopped moving so that he didn't miss a word. "Usually Stan does, but he had a class that went over. I—I didn't spend his rut with him."

Richie had _known_ that Eddie hadn't spend Ben's rut with him when he had come by, logically he had known that. He didn't think that either of them were the type to do that to Mike, and if Ben and Mike _did_ have some agreement, Richie would have heard about it from Mike. And when Eddie had shown up, he would have smelt like _sex_, not just rut and Alpha, but...It still felt good to hear.

And...It felt nice to hear Eddie reassuring him.

Reassuring the Alpha inside him.

* * *

Eddie was naturally tactile, like most Omegas were, he always liked to be touched and he sought out affection and have attention paid to him. At first it was mainly from Bill and Stan, they were clearly the ones that he was more comfortable with, and they were the ones that he had known pretty much his whole life. But as the months went by, and they all got closer, that began to spread out to the rest of the people in their new little group. Beverly played with his hair when it got longer, before he got it cut, and Mike and Ben were comforting presences when Alpha's tried to posture when Eddie was getting drinks or just trying to _exist_ without being bothered, the Beta's helped to diffuse situations.

And then there was Richie, who was incredibly tactile as well, and just wanted to smother Eddie in his scent—just bury his face in Eddie's neck and rub his face against the skin there, more than happy to provide _whatever_ contact Eddie wanted.

He held back, moreso when drunk, which took a lot of self control that Richie prided himself in having, but when Eddie approached him for the first time and snuggled up under his arm with drunk-heavy eyelids, it was worth it. Everyone was playing pool and Richie had just been sitting down at a booth while he waited his turn, but when Eddie sat down next to him and wrapped Richie's arm pointedly around his shoulders and promptly fell asleep right there, Richie backed out of the game in an instant, even though he had been winning.

"Because _that's_ not obvious or anything, Richie Roo," Beverly had snarked with a smirk and Richie didn't even have it in him to snap back about the nickname, just smiling back at her a little giddily, his arms filled with soft Omega.

It was as though that one time had been the catalyst, because after that, Richie got more touches and cuddles.

There had already been _some_ touches before then—thighs pressed together if they were sharing a booth, feet or hands brushing together, shoulders bumping when they walked together—but it was more pointed this time. When they were out dancing, Eddie would dance close to Richie, so that their bodies would occasionally press together, and then after they'd had a few drinks and loosened up, sometimes Eddie would even grind a little playfully up against Richie. When they played pool, Richie could smell the happy pheromones that came off Eddie when they teamed up and completely whipped Beverly and Ben's asses, sharing hip checks and high fives and Eddie brushing some of Richie's unruly curls out of his face with gentle fingertips.

But his favourite were when they were sober and Eddie just wanted contact with the people he trusted. Sometimes at movie nights, sometimes when he was studying, sometimes just when he and Richie were walking across campus together. Eddie would wrap his pinkie around Richie's, or link his arm together with his, or curl up next to him on the couch and nudge the older boy until he put his arm around him, and everything just felt right in the world.

* * *

"Of _course_ you're a Slytherin!" Richie let out a laugh as he looked over at Eddie, who was batting his eyelashes up at Richie all innocent and wide-eyed, pink lips pursed as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

"Whatever would you mean by that?" Eddie cooed out and there was a snort of laughter from Stan, who was on the couch next to Richie.

"He means you're all resourceful and intelligent like a Slytherin," Stan sung out, and it sounded as though this was something that had been brought up _many_ times before. "But you're also a stubborn little shit and when you get into trouble, you generally leave it up to one of us to get you out of it."

"Hey!" Eddie protested.

"Don't think I don't know you're the one who eats all my gummy worms, even though I keep hiding them in different places," Richie pointed out and Eddie just quirked his eyebrows.

"You need to hide them somewhere better, not my problem," he retorted, but he was grinning and leaning against Beverly's side. "Us Slytherin's have to stick together."

"Yes, we do, babes," Beverly tossed an arm around his shoulders and she gave him a quick kiss on top of the head. Richie couldn't stop his eyes from following the movement and wish that _he_ was doing that, but he quickly moved on.

"Ben! What are you?" Richie called out to where Ben was sunk down deep in a beanbag, having smoked his way through a joint almost all on his own and then washed it down with two shots of tequila. Apparently he'd had a crazy customer who was very upset that they didn't have any copies of the book _Fifty Shades Freed_ and he would need to order them in. Richie hadn't realized that working at a book store would get crazy customers, but he had been more than happy to find a lighter for Ben to light up with.

"Hufflepuff, bitch," Ben announced, holding up a peace sign with his fingers, and there were peals of laughter through the room at the unexpected comment.

"_Yes_, baby," Beverley laughed and she pulled away from Eddie and crawled over to Ben to give her boyfriend a kiss on the mouth. Eddie didn't mind, because he began shuffling around until he was leaning against the couch, beside where one of Richie's legs were hanging off the side. Richie stopped listening as his friends kept going around their lopsided circle, rattling off their Hogwarts House, as Eddie pressed up firmly against Richie's legs, and then reached back purposefully to grab for Richie's arm. Richie skated his fingers along his knee before dropping his hand down to where Eddie was reaching back, and his stomach dip as Eddie's fingers wrapped around Richie's wrist.

For a moment, everything just went still, Eddie's small fingers circled around Richie's wrist, thumb pressing against his pulse point, and Richie watched as Eddie's shoulders tensed for a moment.

But then Eddie just plonked Richie's hand on top of his head, wordlessly prompting for him to start stroking his fingers through the strands, and the room started moving like normal again.

Until Eddie found out that Richie was a Gryffindor, and he started calling him as boring as Bill, and then Bill started protesting and Mike chimed in and they all ended up in a pile on the floor, Eddie trapped to one side and Richie bracing his arms firmly on either side of him so that the smaller boy didn't get squashed by all of their friends.

* * *

Winters in California weren't the worst winters that Richie had ever experienced by means of the weather, but the fact that it meant Eddie started wearing adorable jumpers with sweater paws and socks with bunny rabbits and pandas stamped on them, and his cheeks would be flushed under his bobble hat meant that it felt as though this winter was lasting ten times longer than any other winter Richie had endured, and they were only a few weeks in.

He just wanted to kiss Eddie's ruddy cheeks and warm his cold hands and bundle him up in a hundred scarves that smelt like both of them and kiss his chapped lips until he was flushed with warmth.

Beverly mocked him relentlessly.

Mike was a bit more subtle about it, but he smirked whenever he caught Richie staring at Eddie.

Even _Stan_ was starting to notice, although he would just raise an eyebrow knowingly as he looked between the two.

It wasn't as though Richie was doing that well at hiding how he felt, not with the amount of joyous pheromones he let out whenever Eddie was around, and maybe giving the smaller boy his jacket when they were walking back from the movies the other night had been a little obvious, leaving Richie in a measly thin tee-shirt while Eddie was then warmly bundled up in two coats _and_ a fluffy hat.

* * *

_**We're going to watch the last two Star Wars tonight in preparation for TROS!**_

Richie didn't really need to be giving Eddie an update on what they were going to be watching at movie night tonight, since they had all agreed over the past two weeks that they were going to be doing a chronological binge of the _Star Wars_ series, including _The __Mandalorian _but excluding all animated shows, but he looked for any excuse to text the other boy.

However an hour later, he still hadn't got a reply, and that was weird for Eddie. He didn't have a class or placement right now. He might have picked up an extra shift at the library, but he still always had his phone on him and he spent more time on it than actually shelving books or helping customers anyway. If he was every caught out, though, he just batted his eyelashes and turned on the charm, able to get away with pretty much anything.

_Definitely_ a Slytherin putting their best foot forward.

**_Eds?_**

His last class was going to be over in twenty minutes, and then he was meant to be walking to his place. Beverly would probably already be there, maybe Ben or Mike, although Ben sometimes worked longer hours at the book store with Bill. But Eddie's place was on the way, if he just took a small detour, and so when his professor finished up, and Richie still didn't have a response to his texts, he walked out of the building in a slightly different direction than he would usually go.

"Eddie?" Richie called out as he knocked on the front door of Eddie's apartment. Eddie didn't live in the dorms, like Stan, Beverly and Mike did, but he still lived in the cheap student housing like Richie did, which meant that the dull, grey coloured hallways all kind of just looked the same. But there was just something about Eddie's doorway that set it aside from all the other ones on the floor.

Maybe it was the black and purple white board that he had stuck to his door that had a pink marker hanging from a string and an intricate drawing of Eeyore in the corner, which would have definitely been drawn by Stan, since Eeyore was his favourite. Stitch was Eddie's, and Richie was already on the hunt for an over sized stuffed Stitch teddy-bear for Eddie's birthday next year which he refused to tell Beverly about.

"Eds? I'm going to kick this door in if you don't answer!" Richie's voice was louder now as he banged his fist on the door, because he _knew_ Eddie was home. His scent was strong, wafting under the door as though he had only just arrived. Or if he was standing on just the other side of the door. "Eddie?" There was movement on the other side of the door and Richie took a step back to wait.

And then swayed forward and nearly tumbled inside when he was hit with a strong wave of Eddie's scent.

Except it was heavier and it was just a little different.

"Eddie," he breathed as he caught himself with a hand braced on the door frame.

"Rich?" Eddie blinked up at him. He looked sleep rumpled and he had a soft looking blanket wrapped around his shoulders, hair plastered to one side of his head and eyes drooping.

_And_ he was wearing one of Richie's hoodie.

"Are you..." Richie trailed off as he tried to take in Eddie's scent, to process it without reacting too much. The fact that his scent was so strong at the door now seemed different, not like he had just come home or had been standing on the other side like Richie had first thought, because now that the door was open, it was so much stronger. "Are you in heat?" Richie asked, and then cringed awkwardly, because, for one, it was rude to ask about someones ruts or heats, but two, Eddie didn't smell like arousal. He just smelt...Incredible. Overwhelming. All consuming.

And a little like honey, which was new.

"Uh..." Eddie trailed off, and Richie noted how flushed his cheeks were as he tried to tighten the blanket over his chest, tilting his head to the side to rub his face adorably against the soft material of Richie's hoodie. "Not—it's a soft heat." His voice was subdued and quiet, so different from how Eddie usually sounded.

Richie had heard of soft heats, they all had, although he didn't have any experience with them. They weren't as common as a usual heat, from what he understood, and it wasn't all about sex and knotting and being filled like a heat usually was. From what he gathered they were about comfort and nesting and being with your mate. Most Omegas were on suppressants which were also a form of contraception, so that they only went through one heat a year when they chose to rather than every three months like Omegas not on suppressants would. Side effects for some Omegas were soft heats, Richie had just never been around any while they were going through one.

"Oh," Richie nodded his head a few times, not sure he was meant to say, because Eddie just looked so soft and warm, but Richie's Alpha was telling him that he could make Eddie feel even softer and warmer, he just didn't want to cross any lines. "Did you—are you okay?" Eddie snuffled a little, tightening his hold on the blanket, and the fact that he didn't snipe at Richie straight away spoke to the head space that he was in.

"I'm okay," he replied softly, fingers tight in the fluffy blanket.

"I take it you won't be at movie night tonight?" Richie prompted gently and Eddie shook his head, eyes cast downward.

"I don't—I just need to be here. In my space," Eddie answered and Richie could understand that. When he was in rut, he couldn't imagine being anywhere but in his apartment, in his territory, surrounded by his things. But Richie didn't want to leave Eddie here, because even if it wasn't a full blown _heat_, it was still _something_, and Eddie smelt different and he looked so small and Richie just wanted to swaddle him in blankets and curl around him and rub his face all over Eddie's face and neck, scent-marking him, and shower him in comforting kisses.

"Do you want me to stay?" Richie blurted out. Eddie blinked at him, eyes big, and it seemed as though he had been surprised by the nap he had just taken because there was eye shadow and soft eyeliner around his eyes still, which he was usually a stickler for taking off.

"I, um—" Eddie's cheeks flared red and his scent spiked. He was nervous and that made Richie worry, wanting to fix whatever was wrong. "I don't—you have _plans_."

"Yeah, with the group, that we have every week," Richie replied, because if that was Eddie's only problem, then that was easily remedied. "Bev and Mike both have spare keys to my apartment, they can let the others in and still have movie night without us." Movie night always happened at his place since he had the biggest place without a roommate, even if he only had one couch and one armchair, and everyone else ended up on the floor, someones lap or on the beanbag. "I want to be here with _you_, Eds," he murmured. Eddie stared up at him for a few beats before stepping back.

"I hate it when you call me that," he grumbled under his breath and Richie couldn't help but smile as he reached out to touch Eddie's cheeks, fingers soft against the flushed skin.

"I know, love," he said softly before stepping into the apartment, the term of endearment coming out easily even though he was pretty sure he had _never_ used it with _anyone_ before.

Eddie's scent was even more overwhelming inside. Richie _tried_ not to be obvious as he breathed in deeply through his nose, toeing off his worn Vans by the door next to Eddie's tidy line of shoes, and then looking around. He had been to Eddie's place a few times now, although not as often as Eddie had been to his, and even though it was just a standard, tiny place, it just felt so _Eddie_. There were lamps with pretty coloured lamp shades and fairy lights strung up and fresh flowers in vases and colourful cushions on the couch. It actually looked as though Eddie had been asleep on the couch, because there was another blanket there, along with...

"Is that my scarf?" Richie asked and when he looked back at Eddie, the Omega was even redder and it looked as though he was trying to narrow his eyes and act unbothered when he was clearly a little flustered.

"Maybe," he grumbled. Richie couldn't help but smile as he put his school things down on the table and then walked over to the couch. He didn't disturb the semi-built nest that Eddie had created, sitting more to the side and waiting for Eddie to come over. The Omega seemed hesitant, but Richie didn't rush him, just waited quietly, which wasn't easy for him, but he wanted Eddie to do what he wanted, what he needed, and he would wait however long that took.

Eventually, Eddie came over, and he shuffled his things around, tugging at the blanket that was already on the couch and putting it over the back, but he kept Richie's scarf there, laying it over his lap and gently holding the corner between two fingers, rubbing back and forth. Richie couldn't stop his smile, or the happy pheromones he was undoubtedly letting out, and when he subtly scented the air, he noticed that Eddie was most definitely letting out happy pheromones as well. Their content, satisfied scents mingled together in the air around them.

"Are you hungry?" Richie asked, eyes bouncing around, looking for any signs that Eddie had been eating or drinking, wanting to make sure the Omega was being looked after.

"I'm not hungry. Ate at breakfast time," Eddie mumbled as he wiggled around to make himself more comfortable on the couch.

"What about something to drink?" Richie continued and Eddie huffed out a little sigh, as though this was all very irritating.

"I'm _fine_, Rich," he grumbled but Richie shook his head. He stood up, unable to help himself from leaning back down to press a kiss to Eddie's forehead and stroke his fingers through his hair before he went into the tidy kitchen. There were a couple of bottles of water in the fridge, so he took one, and there were some apples in the vegetable bin—Eddie was the only college student that Richie knew who actually used the vegetable bin in their tiny fridges—so he took one of those as well. He moved back to sit where he had been before, and Eddie all but rubbed up against his side, cheek pressed to Richie's shoulder, spreading his scent on the Alpha.

Richie's Alpha absolutely preened.

"Have something to drink?" Richie suggested as he put the apple on the side table next to him and began to unscrew the cap of the water. Eddie made a noise in the back of his throat. "Can you have something to drink for me, love?" Richie tried again and there was silence before Eddie tilted his head up, plump lips parted, and Richie smiled as he twisted his body gently to the side and put the bottle to Eddie's lips. Eddie had a few mouthfuls before he turned his head away and Richie screwed the cap on, putting the bottle next to the apple and then settling back down.

It felt natural to wrap his arm around Eddie, something he had done a hundred times before, but that felt so much more intimate now, because he knew that Eddie would be absolutely _drinking up_ his Alpha pheromones. It was natural, it was comforting, and if it was Bill or Beverly, it would probably be the same, although Richie didn't want to think about that. His _Alpha_ didn't want to think about that.

"Do you need anything else?" Richie asked quietly, just wanting Eddie to be the most comfortable that he could be. He'd helped exactly three Omegas through heats, and those were a full blown heat, and they had been Omegas that he had talked with _before_ anything happened, so the lines were a lot different. Although the way that Richie had felt about them was absolutely nothing compared to the way that he felt about Eddie, and the need to wrap Eddie in his scent and make sure he was completely okay and keep him locked in the apartment until he stopped _smelling so damn good_ to protect him from anyone else was overpowering.

"Um..." Eddie trailed off, narrowing his eyes a little as he looked at Richie. Richie wasn't sure what Eddie wanted, but whatever it was, he was okay with it. He hoped that the pheromones he was giving off told Eddie that. "Uh—" Eddie cut himself off by shrugging off the blanket and suddenly moving so that he was throwing a leg over Richie's thighs and then settling himself on Richie's lap, face planting his shoulder.

"Oh!" Richie's eyebrows shot up in surprise, hands resting awkwardly at his sides as he waits for Eddie to make himself comfortable. The new position is incredibly intimate, especially as Eddie shuffles a little closer, knees tight against his hips and groin pressed against his, and he shifted his face until it was pressed into the curve of Richie's neck, where his scent glands were and Richie could feel Eddie's deep inhale. But then he stilled, his shoulders drawn up, as though he was nervous.

"Is this okay?" Eddie mumbled against his neck, and Richie's eyelids fluttered at the feel of Eddie's lips shaping the words against his skin, and he smiled as he moved his hands, spreading them out over Eddie's back securely.

"'Course," Richie replied, arching his neck a bit to the side to give Eddie better access, his Alpha completely okay with revealing his vulnerable throat in order to comfort the other boy. Eddie's whole body relaxed, like melted chocolate all over Richie's lap, content and soothed and still other than his head. The Omega turned his head from side to side, and Richie could smell the sweet, happy scent that was filling the room, the rosewater and sunshine and _honey_ bright in the air around him, and it made him want to some flailing kind of happy dance for being able to reassure Eddie this way. Eddie made a snuffling noise as he lifted his nose and shoved it just under Richie's ear, breathing in sharply. "It's okay, little Omega, just take what you need," Richie murmured softly, one hand brushing up and down Eddie's spine, and he was surprised when Eddie tensed, because things had been going so well. He loosened the hand that was on Eddie's hip and he stopped the hand that was running up and down Eddie's back, not wanting to push him in any way. But then he blinked and realized what he had said.

_Little Omega_.

It was a term of endearment, generally only between bonded pairs or a pair that were _going_ to bond, and he definitely hadn't planned on calling Eddie that.

He'd never called _any_ Omega that, not ever.

But then there was a rush of pleased and happy pheromones and Eddie just slumped forward again, his head turning so that his forehead was pressed against Richie's collarbones, rubbing his forehead back and forth a few times against the skin there, rubbing his scent over Richie, letting out a little whine from the back of his throat. Richie relaxed as well, sinking further into the couch cushions behind him, reaching for one of the soft blankets that was on the back of couch, pulling it around with one hand and draping it over Eddie's shoulders. The blanket smelt strongly of _Eddie_, but there was definitely some Stan and Bill weaved in there as well, which made sense, because those were the people who were most with Eddie, and he could imagine that these were the most comforting scents to him, especially when he was going through a soft heat and just needed to be soothed. Logically, Richie knew that the scents would be comforting and it wasn't right that that annoyed Richie, but his inner Alpha _really_ didn't like that Eddie was being comforted by people who weren't _him_.

He knew that his thoughts weren't exactly _fair_, but his Alpha just wanted to be everything that his Omega needed.

Eddie needed.

_The_ Omega.

Not _his_.

Richie settled for rubbing his hand up and down Eddie's back, on the other side of the blanket, spreading his own scent, and then slipping his other arm underneath, so he could wrap it loosely but securely around Eddie's waist. Eddie made a noise under his breath, that sounded content and made Richie smile, and Eddie turned his head again, this time tilting his face down a little bit, so his nose brushed against Richie's throat, making the warm feeling at the bottom of Richie's spine spread further upward, sinking them both as far as humanly possible into the soft cushions of the couch.

"You can watch something on the TV, if you want," Eddie mumbled, sounding as though he was only seconds away from sleep. "Remote is just...Over there..." he sort of tossed one arm around a little, but then quickly tucked it back against Richie's side, under the blanket. Richie turned his head lazily to the side and saw the TV remote on the cushion nearby, and he reached out for it, flicking on the TV and turning the volume right down because he didn't want to disturb Eddie. Eddie really didn't seem to mind, and once Richie had settled on a channel, where _Legally Blonde_ had only just started, something he had watched a hundred times with Mike, and he stroked his hand up and down Eddies back before moving up to splay out just underneath the nape of Eddie's neck, between his shoulder blades, and Eddie clearly liked that, because it was like his body was getting even softer, and his pheromones were so happy and his inner Omega seemed completely satisfied.

And Richie loved that.

He loved that he was able to help Eddie like that.

He'd helped Omegas through their heats before, but two of them had been when they had matched up with his rut, and so it had just been convenient for both of them, and the only other one had been an Omega that he had been dating, and even then, it had only been once. It had been when he was eighteen, in his last year of high school, and she had been tense and unsatisfied the whole time, and Richie had tried to do everything he could to make her feel comfortable, but he had just felt like he wasn't doing enough. Something had felt wrong, and off. He hadn't been able to put his finger on it, and had been overly critical of himself for weeks afterwards, feeling like an absolute failure as an Alpha, even though he was only a teenager and didn't know properly how to look after an Omega just yet, but it had turned out that he wasn't the only Alpha that she was seeing. The reason that they hadn't been able to connect properly was because she wasn't committed to him, and her inner Omega knew that and so couldn't be soothed properly by Richie.

With Eddie it felt different.

It felt right.

Friends and family were good at soothing, if they were Alphas, but romantic partners were best, someone who was a potential bond partner, and this now, with Eddie...Everything about it felt _right_.

And Richie's body was responding to the pheromones that Eddie was giving off, calming ones, and Eddie felt so soft and perfect in his arms, heartbeat thudding steady and slow against Richie's chest, a gentle indication that he felt safe right where he was.

And then the Omega was falling asleep, his breathing soft and even, all tension gone from his body, arms wrapped loosely around Richie's back and his body melted into his, and Richie smiled as he tipped his head back onto the couch cushions, idly watching the movie that Mike could most _definitely_ recite from heart, just breathing in Eddie's scent of freshly fallen rain and roses.

* * *

Richie was already awake when Eddie got up the next morning, stumbling down the hallway in just his briefs and a loose shirt that had fallen forward and was showing most of his collarbones, a panicked expression on his face. Richie had been cooking—or _attempting_ to cook, because it really wasn't something that he was the best at, and was now washing up his attempts because it had all just gone to hell—and he had been feeling pretty good about things, until he was hit with the sudden smell of Eddie's distress, the Alpha inside of him snapping up and looking around to find the smaller boy.

"Eddie?" Richie's eyebrows pulled together as he moved out of the kitchen and into the living room area, where Eddie was standing, half dressed and lips pursed open. "Is everything okay?" Eddie's hair was a complete mess, and one side of his face was red with lines from his pillow, and he looked adorably sleep-mussed, but his eyes were wide and almost scared.

"I thought...I thought you were gone," Eddie muttered, lifting his pink-painted fingernails to his cheek and scratching at his face, looking a bit embarrassed. Richie's eyebrow arched a little at that, and a guilty feeling pulled at his stomach.

"No, I—I was trying to make you breakfast?" Richie wrinkled up his nose and let out an awkward laugh. "But I'm really not that good." Eddie just kept staring at him, long eyelashes every now and then brushing against the apple of his cheeks, until he swallowed hard and practically bowled across the living room to twine himself around Richie. "_Oof_!" Richie grunted and had to take a step back to steady himself, but he adjusted easily to the weight of Eddie in his arms, holding him up with one hand under a thigh and the other banded around his back. He blinked in surprise but settled quickly and tilted his face against the side of Eddie's head, comfortingly spreading his scent. "Hey, it's okay, I've got you, love."

It always used to be _Eds _and _Edsikins _and _Eddie Spaghetti_, which were said with fondness, but it was like something had just shifted yesterday.

At least he wasn't calling him _little Omega_ again.

"Thanks for not leaving, Rich," Eddie mumbled against his neck, still sounding embarrassed, which Richie hated, and he rubbed his hand up and down the other boys back a few times, hoping that it would help to soothe him. It seemed to work and Richie turned his head to the side, barely able to stop himself from dropping kisses all over Eddie's temple. They were still for a few moments, both of them just soaking in each other scents and comfort until Eddie sighed under his breath and wiggled around a little bit, until Richie lowered him back to the ground. Eddie's face was red, and he just looked soft again, eyelids drooping a bit, as though he was ready to go back to sleep.

"How long do soft heats last?" Richie asked, clearing his throat and tilting his head to the side. "I don't—sorry, I don't know much about them. Are they...Like a normal heat?"

"That's okay," Eddie gave him a small smile. "A couple of days, but the first two days are the worst. My professors and boss already know, I'm just going to be staying inside."

"Good," Richie said before he could think about it.

"Good?" Eddie arched an eyebrow, running his fingers through his hair, sending more strong pheromones through the air, making Richie's nose twitch.

"Yeah—uh, that didn't come out quite right," Richie made a face.

"I hope not," Eddie muttered, but he didn't say anything else, didn't call Richie out for his possessive and inappropriate statement. Then they were standing there again, Richie fully dressed and Eddie _not_ fully dressed and both of them smelling like themselves and each other and Eddie looking so incredibly beautiful and touchable. That sweet smell of honey was in the air still, and Richie knew that it had to be with Eddie's scent changing because of his heat, and he wondered if it was _just_ the scent of heat, or maybe if it was arousal as well.

The Alpha swallowed hard and took a purposeful step back.

"I think I should probably head back to my apartment, yeah?" Richie said, knowing that it would be good to put some distance between him and Eddie, even for a short while, just to clear his head and his nose. "I've got classes and then a shift." Eddie was nodding, but he was pulling at the hem of his shirt, eyes darting to the front door and then back at Richie, and Richie saw the way the other boys shoulders were beginning to tense up again.

"I'll come back, though...If that's okay?" Richie checked, taking another step back, even though everything inside of him was telling him to reach out for the Omega, soothe him, calm him, reassure him that there was nowhere that he really wanted to be except right there next to him.

"Um...Yeah," Eddie cleared his throat, letting go of the hem of his shirt and crossing his arms tightly over his chest, curling his shoulders inward, making him look even smaller than usual. Richie shoved his feet into his shoes and then turned back around to look at Eddie, and seeing him turning in on himself made his stomach turn over.

"Eddie?" Richie crossed the space between them so that he was in front of Eddie again, putting his arms around him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Eddie mumbled against his chest.

"Are you sure?" Richie wrinkled his nose as he rubbed it against Eddie's hair, and he could smell Eddie's scent strong and sure around him. There were nerves but they weren't overpowering and he hoped that he wasn't the cause of them.

He just wanted to kiss all of Eddie's problems away.

"I'll come back after my shift, alright?" He whispered against Eddie's hair and Eddie just hummed in response, his face still buried in Richie's shirt. Richie had just slept in the shirt and hoodie and sweatpants that he had worn yesterday, so he was going to have to make a trip back to his place between his last class and his shift at the station to change, but he would have more than enough time. As he pulled back, he looked down at the grey and purple hoodie he was wearing, and before he was even really thinking, he was pulling it off over his head and looking expectantly at Eddie. "Arms up," he stated.

"What?" Eddie's eyes widened, but his arms were already lifting at his sides. Eddie waited until they were in the air, and Richie was careful about putting the too-big sleeves over each of Eddie's hands and then he slipped the hole at the top over Eddie's head and tugged it down over his body. It swamped Eddie's body, even though it was a tighter fit on Richie, and he looked and smelt divine.

Eddie was practically glowing with how happy he was right now, Richie could see and _smell_ it.

"Is that okay?" He asked softly. "I feel a bit hot today anyway." And that _was_ the truth, it wasn't just that he wanted to see Eddie in his clothes, he did feel a few degrees hotter than he usually did, which was a bit strange, but he didn't pay it any attention.

"It's perfect," Eddie muttered with a smile, looking down at his hands, which were covered by the long sleeves of the hoodie, before looking back up at Richie. Standing there in Richie's hoodie, smelling like both of them, with Eddie's beautiful big eyes looking up at him filled with trust, Richie's heart was thumping and telling him to lean in and kiss Eddie and put his hand to the back of Eddie's neck and squeeze and put his nose against Eddie's scent gland and breathe him in.

"I'll text you when I'm on my way over," Richie blurted out, moving to grab his things off the kitchen table and turning to leave, making sure to close the door firmly behind him. "Lock this door!" He couldn't help but yell from the other side before he was taking off at almost a run.

* * *

Richie only had two classes in the morning and he had an hour between the last one and his shift at the radio station. Usually he would just stay near campus and meet up with one of his friends—more often than not recently, he met up with Eddie—but he had to go back to his apartment to change his clothes. He had gotten a few looks that day, and he knew it was because he smelt so strongly of Omega, although it could have also been because it was a colder day today and he was walking around in a tee-shirt and he was _still_ gathering sweat at his brow. He had absolutely no issue smelling of Eddie, but his Alpha was so distracted he had no idea what had happened in either of the classes he'd had that morning and he was definitely going to have to borrow someones notes.

He changed and text Beverly, asking her where she was when he was on his way back to the campus, and she said she was working in one of the design rooms. She always chose the same one, just like she tried to do when he did photo shoots with her, they were always in the same reserved room, so Richie found her easily, and it only took one whiff of his scent to have Beverly making room for them on the couch, Richie's head on her lap.

"Fuck. I just—I don't want to freak him out, you know?! I don't want to pressure him...With how bad I want him," Richie groaned and winced at his words, rubbing his hands over his face. "With _everything_ I want so bad with him."

"You've always wanted a mate, Richie Roo," Beverly's voice was soft as she stroked her fingers through Richie's hair. "You _want_ to look after someone and protect them and love them. There's nothing wrong with that." Richie's cheeks flushed at what Beverly was saying, even though everything was true, and while a lot of that may have been Alpha instinct, the rest was just Richie, wanting to be someones and call someone his.

"I don't think Eddie would be happy if he heard you saying that he needs someone to look after him and protect him," he settled for saying and Beverly snorted.

"He _doesn't_ need someone to look after him and protect him. None of us do," she retorted. "But we all do it anyway, and Eddie let you in when he was vulnerable, he trusted you not to take advantage of him, that's a big thing. And—come on, you can't be a total idiot, Rich. He's fucking in deep with you, maybe just as much as you're in love with him." Richie's body stiffened and he tipped his head back in Beverly's lap to look up at him. She was staring back at him with a soft smile. "You're a great Alpha, Rich, you always look after us, you always have, even when we haven't needed it_ or wanted it_." Richie smiled, and he couldn't help but reach up and touch Beverly's soft curls. "And it doesn't sound as though you've done anything to pressure him—pretty sure Eddie would punch you in the nose if he did." That made Richie's smile grow, because that was one of the things that he liked the most about Eddie.

"You're always gonna be my number one girl, Bev," he smirked a little and Beverly snorted again, in a very unladylike manner.

"Yeah, but not your number one _person_. That's our Eddie. And I think it's time you got back to him, yeah?"

"I've got a shift first, but I'll head back after that," he said as he began to get up off the lumpy couch.

"Fuck that," Beverly made a face as she stretched out her legs. "Your Omega is in heat, they can't make you work." Richie's eyes widened and it felt as though the breath had been punched out of him at Beverly's words, at the simple words. "Plus, you smell kinda intense as well..." she continued, although Richie wasn't really listening to her anymore.

_Your Omega_.

Holy hell.

He wasn't sure what he was feeling the strongest; love, arousal or just an overwhelming need to be back with Eddie to make sure the Omega still smelt like both of them. It felt as though his whole body was frozen and the only thing he could hear was how fast his blood was pumping and how hard his heart was thudding and how hot his entire body felt in that exact moment. He had no idea how long it took before he blinked and looked back at Beverly, who looked amused and smug.

"You really going to go to work after that reaction?"

* * *

Richie still went to his shift, because given his reaction to Beverly's words, he really didn't trust himself to just go back to Eddie's. He struggled through his shift, which really said something, given how much he enjoyed his job and how he was looking at doing that as a _career_ one day, and spent most of it on his phone, which was probably really obvious to all of his listeners. He also felt really hot, cooped up in the small station room, and had the AC turned on high even though it was winter and he knew Laura wouldn't be happy when she came in next, shifting around in the seat and trying not to think about the sweat beading at his hairline. There was a prickling over his skin and he kept pulling at his hair, feeling restless and on edge, and it definitely felt like the longest shift he had ever pulled in his life, but he pushed through it.

He had only gotten a couple of messages from Eddie throughout the day, and he hadn't wanted to send three hundred back and overload him, even though he would have no issue with doing that any other day. So he went through those messages enough times to be able to recite them back, then he went through his camera roll, and the group chats with his friends and smiled at Eddie's inputs, usually snarky replies and memes, which Richie always reacted to, even if he hadn't been following the rest of the conversation.

He adored the boy.

By the time Laura arrived to take over for her shift, Richie was tapping his foot so rapidly on the ground he had just realized that it had been picked up through his microphone, and he practically flew out the door. Laura was in the middle of saying something, but he really didn't have the time, so he just shouted goodbye over his shoulder, nearly tripped over his feet, and then sprinted in the direction of Eddie's apartment building.

Beverly's words had been playing on repeat in his head.

_Your Omega._

_Your Omega._

_YourOmegaYourOmegaYourOmega._

It wasn't true, but he wanted it to be so badly.

There was just something about Eddie that clicked together with Richie, and something about Eddie's Omega that fit with Richie's Alpha so perfectly. Eddie didn't defer to him easily just because he was an Alpha, he had expected Richie's respect and he still kept him on his toes and that was what Richie _wanted_, he didn't want a partner who just kept their head down and left everything up to him as the Alpha, he wanted an _equal_ partner. But then Eddie's Omega last night and this morning...It had wanted comfort and it had recognized that in Richie's Alpha. The way Eddie had just melted into Richie, trusting him to look after him...It had meant everything to Richie and his Alpha.

"Eddie?" Richie knocked a little harder than he really needed to once he got to Eddie's room. "Eddie, you awake?" He had sent Eddie a text an hour ago, telling him when his shift was ending, and he'd gotten a photo back of baby Yoda on Eddie's TV screen with a bunch of clapping emojis. Richie stood there, straining his ears to try and hear anything inside, but he couldn't even hear the TV playing and scrunched up his nose as he pulled out his phone from his pocket to call Eddie, but then the door was open.

And all Richie could smell was _Alpha_.

"Hey, R-Rich," Bill smiled at him easily, although his smile faded fast as he was met with Richie's frown. "Um..." his nose twitched and Richie really didn't mean to suddenly be filling the air with frustrated and angry pheromones, and he tried to tamper them down but it didn't seem to be working. "Eddie's just asleep on the couch. Did you want to come in?" Over Richie's own scent, and Bill's gentle, soothing one that would be a like a balm to anyone who got a whiff of Richie's, he could smell Eddie. Strong and sweet and slightly sticky like honey.

"Didn't you have work today?" Richie asked bluntly, and he was horrified by how rude he sounded, but the words just came out before he could even process them. And it felt as though his teeth were practically wired shut after the question was out, refusing to let him take it back, waiting for Bill's answer.

"I—I always take time o-off when E-Eddie has his soft heats," Bill replied slowly, as though still assessing the situation, and his shoulders were beginning to tense up, the Alpha beginning to react to the negative vibes that Richie was giving off. "Um," his nostrils flared, and he rolled one of his shoulders, one of his hands tensing at his side, into a fist, and it was the first time that Richie had ever seen Bill seem...Angry. And it was because of him. "Maybe you should come back later."

And now Richie was angry.

It felt like some switch had just been flicked inside of him.

Actually...Somewhere in the back of his head he realized that he had _already_ been working up to angry, and Bill was just reacting to him, but it felt as though he was just being swamped with hormones right now, hormones and feelings and urges that he fought to suppress on a daily basis, but his skin felt as though it was hot and itching and too small for his skin and things just felt wrong.

"Eddie knew that I was coming by. He _wanted_ me to come by," Richie said through gritted teeth.

"Not like this," Bill's voice was firm now, eyebrows set low. "I'll tell him you came when he wakes up." Richie frowned and there was a prickle settling over his skin, something uncomfortable and almost painful. He swallowed hard as he tried to bite back the angry words that he suddenly wanted to snap out at Bill, for keeping him away from Eddie, and he looked down at his shoes.

"Bill," he began, heaving out a breath as he looked back up, but Bill was already shaking his head.

"Not like this," Bill repeated, and then he was stepping back and closing the door in Richie's face. Richie's lips fell open in a wide 'o' shape. White hot rage swept over him and he lifted his hand, wrapped in a fist, wanting to bring it down hard on he door but he caught himself before he did, his chin jerking back.

He didn't do that.

He didn't do _this_.

"_Fuck_," Richie growled as he let his hand drop back to his side. He stared at Eddie's door for a few moments longer, but he wasn't sure exactly what he was waiting for, whether it was for Bill to open the door again or if it was to see if their talking had woken up Eddie and _Eddie_ came to open the door. But neither thing happened, and then a girl who must have lived across the hall came out of her apartment and gave him a strange look and so Richie stepped back and forced himself to take in a few deep breaths through his mouth—_not_ through his nose, because he didn't want to risk catching some of Eddie's scent and feeling out of control again.

Richie wanted to scratch at his arms and pull at his floppy hair and his Alpha was getting more and more worked up.

He had been so happy last night, and that morning.

It had felt as though things had shifted between him and Eddie, as though they were maybe going to finally cross the line between being friends and being something more.

But...Bill and Eddie had been friends for years.

He had smelt Bill and Stan on the blanket that Eddie had on his couch yesterday, that he had undoubtedly been sleeping with and using for comfort before Richie had gotten there, even though he had been in Richie's hoodie.

And now Bill was with him again, and it seemed as though Eddie was sleeping just fine...

Maybe Richie just fell into the same category as Bill and Stan, and recently Mike, Ben and Beverly. He was a comforting presence, a good friend, his Alpha pheromones were soothing and helpful. And that was a _good_ thing, he wanted to be Eddie's friend, he wanted to help him in any way that he could, it was just—

"Shit!" Richie slammed his fist into his door as he fumbled with his keys, dropping them and having to kneel down to snatch them up. He fumbled again but this time managed to get the right key and twisted it in the lock. He was frustrated and pissed off—mainly at _himself_—and he just felt as though his temperature was getting hotter and hotter even though it was meant to be _winter_. When he had come home to change before going to see Beverly, he had gotten himself a new hoodie, but he pulled that off now, and he pushed open the windows in his lounge and kitchen area to let in the cold air before stopping short with a frown in front of the couch.

Over the back of the couch was one of Eddie's jerseys that he must have left here the last time he was over. It was a blue one with a dancing cupcake embroidered on the front and the words '_cute as a cupcake_' stitched in pink underneath and when Richie picked it up, the fabric shifted and the scent filled Richie's nose.

"For fucks sakes," Richie muttered as he felt himself instantly harden in his jeans, and hot sweats, quick temper and the incessant itch under his skin suddenly made sense.

Rut.

_He was going into rut_.

He grabbed his phone and went through his tracking app quickly, and he was six weeks early.

That _never_ happened.

Then there was a breeze that came through the window to his side and it caught Eddie's scent in the sweatshirt and Richie's cock _throbbed_, completely hard in his briefs now.

He was going into rut because of Eddie, and Eddie seemed to just look at him as though he was a friend.

* * *

Richie's ruts generally last four days, but this one was five, and it felt more intense than he had experienced in a long time. It wasn't the first time he had gone through a rut by himself, but he could honestly say it was the only time that he had felt so intensely about someone while going through it, shouting his throat raw with Eddie's name on his lips. He was going to have to burn Eddie's sweatshirt and claim he had no idea what had happened to it, given he had spent most of his rut with his face buried in it and had probably gotten a ridiculous amount of come on it, and then lie if Eddie had ever asked him if he had left here.

Or just hide it really well, because he liked the idea of having something that belonged to Eddie that now smelt so strongly of both of them.

Richie groaned as he rolled out of his bed and stretched and pushed his fingers through his greasy hair. He'd thought he had dragged himself into the shower yesterday, but things got a little fuzzy when he was going through rut and time got a bit blurry, so from the state of his limp hair, he was guessing it was probably the day before yesterday. At least he'd had the foresight to shut the windows in his room and just turn the fan on full blast.

Or _Mike_ had, since Mike had checked on him at least twice. Beverly had come by on the first day, a few hours after he had left Eddie's place and had had a go at Bill that he was definitely going to need to apologize for, but once she had used her key and stepped into his apartment gotten a sniff of the blatant smell of _rut_ and _Alpha_, she had left straight away. He had heard her come in and he had smelt her from his bedroom, but he had known that she would leave when she knew what was happening, something they both did for each other, given how territorial they got in their ruts, even though they were best friends. Mike checked in on them, making sure they were eating and drinking and having showers if they were spending their ruts alone, which was another big reason as to why Mike was one of the most beautiful people on the planet.

Right beneath Eddie and Harry Styles.

As soon as the thought of Eddie crossed his mind, Richie picked up his phone, which was on the ground next to his bed, and he saw a few Facebook notifications, a text from Beverly and a few group chat notifications. He remembered picking up his phone last night, the blue glare of the screen had been bright against his face being harsh since he didn't have any lights on, and he had responded hastily to some emails from people in his class that had send him course work. He went to his text messages and he could see that he'd received around ten from Eddie, but he hadn't replied to any of them, which was _good_. He remembered most things when he was in rut, but it was hard to actually properly focus on anything other than _being hard _and _wanting to knot_, so at least he hadn't let himself think with his cock and message Eddie.

But then he checked his snapchat and tapped into Eddie's name and he saw that he had screenshot two of the last messages that Eddie had sent him, with a message below, after the screenshot symbols, that he had saved.

_Have fun getting your knot off to those. Text me when you're through x_

Richie's eyebrows pulled together in confusion, stuck on the 'x' at the end, before he went to his photo gallery, and then they nearly disappeared under his curls.

The first was innocent enough, a selfie of Eddie, pouting a little but sort of just looking cute in an _innocent_ kind of way, although he was wearing the hoodie that Richie had given him that morning after he had stayed over. Richie stared at the picture for a few beats longer than he really should have, his eyes on Eddie's plush lips, before he swiped his thumb across the screen to the next picture.

Another selfie, this time not in Richie's hoodie, and not with an innocent expression.

His lips looked painted glossy red and he had a silver lacy type of thing on that dipped low over his shoulders and then gathered around his neck delicately. Richie couldn't see much else of the outfit, but it was the way that Eddie was looking at the camera, with his lips pursed seductively and his eyes heavy with promise from where they were looking up at Richie from underneath dark eyelashes.

Richie felt his knot starting to form again at the base of his cock, even though he felt raw from the amount of times he had gotten off in the past few days. But there was still that itch under his skin, the residue of rut that he had to get through. He _didn't_ stare at Eddie's pictures like a total creep and he _didn't_ bury his face in Eddie's sweatshirt like he had multiple times _already_. Instead, he went into his bathroom, turned on the shower, and got off in there with his head braced back against the tiles and his teeth sunk into his lower lip.

* * *

_What fucking happened with you and Bill? You guys have stunk out my apartment._

_Richie?_

There was a gap between those two texts and the next ones by a couple of hours.

_Bev just said you were going to be out for a couple of days. She didn't saaaay that you were in rut, but that would explain why you were acting more of a knothead than usual with Bill before? He didn't say much but he seemed kind of pissed._

_This just isn't convenient to my life, Chee. I wanted cuddles. Now I'm sad and I only have Bill and Stan for cuddles._

_You give the best cuddles, Richie._

Richie blinked at the last few messages, tilting his head to the side. After he had showered he had changed his sheets and opened up the windows in his room to let in the cold winter breeze to air out his apartment, dumped more blankets on his bed and then burrowed under them to sleep off the remainder of his rut and rest his tired body, and now he was awake and clear headed and decided to properly go through his phone.

_Bev said that we've got a new shoot next week if you're up for it, before Christmas break._

The next message was just a bunch of emojis.

_The top is kind of sexy...Want a pic? ;)_

Richie blinked again and he could completely confirm that the top was sexy, if it was the one that Eddie had sent the picture of on snapchat, that he had inappropriately taken a screenshot of _through his rut_.

_Mayyb Im readin to muchinto this. Bt did you go intorut bcause of my heat_

Richie's stomach dropped and he inhaled so sharply he nearly choked on thin air.

_Cheeee...I wan anotter hoodie_

Clearly Eddie was drunk when he was sending these messages and Richie was glad that he'd had the presence of mind not to reply, because he really had no idea what he would have responded with. Or, he had some idea what he would have wanted to reply with, but once he was clear-minded, he would have regretted it.

_Omg. I'm so sorry. I'm so hungover. Sorry._

_Actually, I'm not sorry. I still want another hoodie. You can make it up to me by bringing me a hoodie._

Richie checked when the last message had come through, and it was about two hours ago.

_Miss you_

It was a tiny text, with no punctuation or emojis, right to the point and it made Richie's body ache in way that it hadn't been in the past few days. It had nothing to do with arousal but _definitely_ to do with desire.

**_Can I see you?_**

He chewed down on his bottom lip as he looked at the time, seeing that it was just after seven in the evening. It was a Monday, and Eddie didn't have placement or class or work, and he didn't usually go out at the beginning of the week. He stared at his phone, as though he could will Eddie to reply quicker, and then it was though Eddie could actually _hear_ him, because the response came seconds later.

_Only if you bring your hoodie._

* * *

Richie wasn't sure what he was expecting when he showed up at Eddie's place, curls still a bit damp from his shower, cheeks flushed from the cool wind now that his body temperature was back to normal and two hoodies pulled on so that he would have one to wear home once he gave one to Eddie, but it wasn't Bill opening the door. He stopped short and his eyes widened and Bill regarded him with a flat expression and a raised eyebrow.

"Welp...This is fucking awkward," Richie muttered and Bill stared at him for another moment before snorting, a smile pulling at his lips. "Um, about the other day—I was acting like a fucker and—"

"It's fine, R-Richie," the Alpha said, stepping back, leaving the door open so that Richie could come in. Mike and Stan were inside as well, but as Richie stepped inside, it was Eddie that his eyes fell on straight away. He was on the couch, in an oversized jersey and a pair of sweatpants, his hair looking soft and flopping over his forehead, and he was watching Richie like a hawk, his eyes actually narrowed slightly. Richie awkwardly shucked off his shoes and kicked the door shut and then walked over, cheeks feeling a bit red because he knew that he was being stared at by _everyone_ in the room.

"Hey, love," he said softly, biting down on his bottom lip, and after a moment of consideration, a shy smile spread across Eddie's face, the tips of his ears turning red and a flood of happy pheromones almost knocking Richie over, making the Alpha _ridiculously_ cheerful.

"Hoodie?" Eddie hummed out expectantly and Richie started stripping off his hoodie without a second question. He was pretty sure he heard Mike and Bill laugh, and he knew he heard Stan mutter '_completely whipped_' under his breath, but he didn't care. Once he untangled himself from his top hoodie, Eddie was shoving at Stan's shoulder, pushing the Beta away. "_Move_, Stan," he was grumbling. "This is Richie's spot." _That_ made Richie's eyes widen but he couldn't stop the stupid smile that spread across his face.

"I see how it is," Stan rolled his eyes, but he didn't look too bothered as he moved to the narrow arm chair and made himself comfortable with the many pillows that Eddie had dumped on it. Richie sat down next to Eddie and handed him the hoodie, their fingers brushing as he past it over, and his stomach squeezed as Eddie pulled off his jersey and then pulled on Richie's hoodie, making himself comfortable and immediately settling down into the couch with a content expression on his face.

The five of them watched three episodes of _The Great British Bake Off_, chattering throughout it although Richie joining in a bit less because his body and mind were still tired. He was back to his normal schedule tomorrow—for both work and classes—and he was going to need as much sleep as he could get, but he was glad that he had come out to see Eddie tonight. And he was glad that he had cleared the air with Bill as well, although he still wanted to properly apologize, because even when he and Beverly got territorial with each other sometimes and encroached on each others space, they always made sure they apologized for their Alpha-ness and he wanted to do that with all of his other friends as well. Mike was leaving Friday night to go back home to his family for Christmas, which they all already knew because he had been bubbling with excitement about it for the past few weeks. Bill's parents and little brother were meeting him at the airport on Sunday afternoon, and they were all going to fly to San Francisco together to spend the holiday with extended family. Stan was leaving on Saturday morning to be back with his family that night because Hanukkah began on the twenty-second.

And Eddie was...Staying here.

Which Richie had been completely unaware of.

Stan and Bill exchanged a look when Mike had asked Eddie what his plans were, and Eddie had said he was sticking around, but they didn't say anything. Eddie didn't smell sad or angry about having to stay here by himself, but Richie was definitely interested in more of the story, but he wasn't going to ask in front of everyone.

"Rich is staying around too," Mike offered idly as he got up from where he'd been sitting on the floor next to Bill, arching his back and then stretching out his legs. "So it's not like you're going to be alone." Richie definitely felt Eddie's eyes on him, but he didn't react because he knew Bill and Stan were also looking at him. "I think I'm probably gonna head off now..."

"I'll drive you back to your place," Bill quickly offered, getting to his feet and reaching out for Mike's hand easily, linking their fingers together in a familiar fashion. "You guys want a ride?" He looked toward Richie and Stan, and Stan's answer was to get up and stretch as well. Richie wanted to _stay_—he wanted to talk about the messages and pictures that he had gotten from Eddie, and the blatant way he seemed to be basking in Richie's scent. He wanted to talk about the fact he had gone into rut much earlier than he was meant to, and that it was _more_ than likely triggered by Eddie's heat, and it seemed like they both knew it. But he was tired, and Eddie looked as though he was falling asleep as well, so Richie stood up as well. Bill squeezed Mike's hand before coming over to Eddie, leaning down and giving him a hug, rubbing his hand up and down Eddie's arm, scenting him just subtly in a way that still made Richie's Alpha antsy, but he didn't respond. Stan hugged Eddie as well, Mike giving him a warm smile and a wave as they gathered up their things, and Eddie grumbled under his breath but he pulled himself to his feet, sliding off the couch.

"You don't have to get up, we can let ourselves out," Richie couldn't help but frown, because Eddie had been so warm and comfortable, looking as though he was only half a second off falling asleep wrapped in Richie's hoodie, sweatpants and fluffy socks.

"It's fine," Eddie murmured...And then he reached out to take Richie's hand.

It was a simple gesture, but it made Richie's heart pump faster as he felt Eddie's soft, warm fingers slide through his and the material of his hoodie press against his palm since the arms were so much longer on Eddie in a completely adorable way. He also smelt the spike in Eddie's pheromones which made him smile as they followed the other three boys to the door. Bill and Mike left first and Stan braced his hand against the wall as he pulled on his shoes.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Eddie," he said, eyes flicking down to his and Richie's joined hands before looking back up with a neutral expression.

"I better go," Richie mumbled, and he squeezed Eddie's hand, even though he really didn't want to let go.

"Make sure you text Bev. She wanted us to do another photo shoot this week, but she said she needed to do a fitting with you first," Eddie told him and Richie nodded.

"I'll sort it out with her and let you know," Richie replied and Eddie nodded back. Then they fell quiet and it was only when Stan cleared his throat, still standing expectantly in the doorway, that they spoke again. "I'll text you tomorrow."

"Text me when you get home," Eddie countered and Richie couldn't stop his smile. He shoved his feet into his shoes without letting go of his hand and it was only when Bill called out from the end of the hallway, where he and Mike were waiting, that he remembered that he was holding up a whole car load of people.

"Right..." Richie trailed off, looking back down at their joined hands. He was about to look back up when Eddie was leaning in and kissing him quickly on the cheek.

"Hope the pictures helped," he said quietly, and there was a glint in his eyes and a cheeky smirk tugging at his lips. Richie had absolutely no idea what to say, and he nearly tripped over his feet as he stepped back, his hand unfortunately untangling from Eddie's.

"Lock your door," he managed to say before Stan was bumping his shoulder and practically leading him down the hallway.

* * *

Something had shifted.

Something had _definitely_ changed, and they both knew it.

Richie just wasn't sure if Eddie knew what their destination was, or if he was as clueless as Richie was and just along for the ride too.

He didn't see Eddie on Tuesday, but they messaged as much as they could. Their interactions had definitely increased over the past few months, but today it had been almost every few minutes, even when they both had classes. Richie couldn't help that little bubble of excitement that rose inside of him every time Eddie's name flashed up on his screen.

He met with Beverly after his shift at the radio station, in her design class, and they went through the outfits that she wanted him to try on. There were only two, since her design portfolio was almost complete with everything she had him and Eddie model last time, so there were just a few outfits left. She also had a Beta girl who had modeled for her last week, which helped to round out her portfolio.

"So you were all that Eddie would talk about when we went out the other night," Beverly commented as she fiddled with one of the many zippers on the jacket that she had given Richie.

"Hm?" He hummed non-committedly, not wanting to say much, because _something_ was happening and he just didn't want to jinx anything.

"You don't want to know what he was saying?" Beverly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He sent me a few texts," Richie replied, his tone a bit wishy-washy, and Beverly narrowed her eyes at the very _un_-Richie response.

"What did they say?" She asked, voice a little demanding and Richie just gave her a toothy grin.

"Not telling," he replied. Beverly pursed her lips and then pinched his skin a little with the zipper on one of the arms. "Ow!" Richie hissed.

"Sorry!" She sung out, _clearly_ not meaning it.

* * *

The next photoshoot was on Wednesday, and Richie could smell Eddie before he'd even walked into the room. It was the same one that Beverly had used last time—the one that she used most times—and when Richie opened the door, he had to stop and blink, because Eddie was half undressed in the middle of the room, making a face in the mirror as he buttoned up the silky white pants that he was in.

Richie's mouth went dry.

Eddie had _another_ tattoo, so that was three all up by Eddie's count, this one on his ribs. It must have been painful, given the placement, although it was rather small and delicate. A bit like Eddie, although Richie wasn't about to say that. It was black out images of Peter Pan, Wendy, John and Michael Darling flying, and then in small, swooping writing underneath it stated '_to live would be an awfully big adventure_'.

He aso had a piercing through his left nipple, with little pink gems on either side of the bar.

Richie _knew_ his scent was spiking and filling the room, but there really wasn't much that he could do about that.

"You know that I know you're there, right?" Eddie stated as he finished buttoning up his pants and then reached out for his shirt, that was laid out over the top of the mirror.

"I know," Richie retorted, although he couldn't stop himself from smiling as he approached the Omega, his eyes sweeping down Eddie's tanned torso, his rosy nipples and flat stomach. "I just...Didn't realize that you had three tattoos."

"Oh yeah?" Eddie arched an eyebrow at the reflection in the mirror as he slipped the lilac blouse over his shoulder and fingered the tiny pale buttons with an innocent tilt of his head. "You were looking at my tattoo?" The question was simple, but paired with Eddie's tilt of his head and the way his pink tongue came out to slide along his lower lip, Richie's cock twitched a little and he felt heat rise in his cheeks. Eddie knew _exactly_ what he was doing to the Alpha, he had to.

"I like your tattoos," Richie stated, glad when his voice didn't shake at all. "And your piercing."

"Yeah?" Eddie still didn't do up any of the buttons, and he was _definitely_ sucking his lower lip into his mouth on purpose, eyes dancing as they met Richie's in the mirror.

"Yeah," Richie breathed, and _that_ came out strained, no two-ways about it. Eddie blinked and he slowly released his lip from inside his mouth and he looked as though he was about to say something when the door opened again and Beverly and Stan walked in, Beverly instantly wrinkled her nose.

"Oh, for fucks sakes," she snorted and then laughed as she walked over to open the windows and then purposefully plugged in one of the scent neutralizers. Richie rolled his eyes and when he looked back at Eddie, the smaller boy was blushing and quickly doing up his buttons, but he didn't smell at all like embarrassment. Richie couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching Eddie's hip gently before he turned around to face Beverly.

"What am I dressing in first, Bev?!"

Just like the first shoot, there was tension. It was thick in the air to the point where Beverly sprayed some perfume and even Stan was wrinkling his nose, but Richie just couldn't find it in him to care. He also knew that they must have really been delivering in the shots, or else Beverly would be screaming at them to keep their pheromones under control, but instead she was just sticking to making sarcastic comments _at them_ and then snide remarks to Stan. Music was playing and Richie knew that he was still interacting with Beverly and Stan from time to time, but his complete focus was on Eddie.

They did solo photos, so that their outfits could be fully appreciated, but it was the ones when they came together that were the clearest moments for Richie.

Eddie's scent was just everywhere, pure and unfiltered, not at all tainted by the perfume that Beverly had sprayed or the scent neutralizer because of how close they were and his skin was so soft and smooth under his fingers, Richie just wanted to_ taste _and _mark_. Eddie wiggled himself against Richie, unabashedly pressing their bodies together, or gripping Richie's arm and wrapping it around his waist as they posed. He _had_ to know exactly what he was doing to Richie, and every now and then, among the rose and the citrus, the sweet scent of honey twined it's way up Richie's nose, making him shiver and tighten his fingers where they were on Eddie's hips. He heard Eddie's breathing hitch several times and he felt Eddie pressing back against his groin with a purposeful grind more than once, and each times Richie could tell his eyes were getting darker and his scent was getting stronger.

It kind of felt as though he was about to go back into rut all over again, and he was very thankful that that was safely over.

There was just something about the last outfit and shoot, after them teasing each other with touches and heavy looks, where Richie found it even harder to keep himself under control. They were both in types of suits, although they had Beverly's little twists to them, and Eddie had a woven pink suit on with a pink fedora type hat that looked adorable perched on his head, and underneath the _single button_ that was holding the two sides of his jacket together, he wasn't wearing anything else underneath. Richie had a blue spotted button down underneath his jacket, so his scent was at least a _little_ smothered, but no, Eddie's was completely out there. There was some glitter on his collarbones and he kept tilting his head to the side so that the scent gland was exposed and Richie's mouth was almost watering.

He hadn't even realized that his chin kept drifting lower and his face was tilting forward, toward Eddie's exposed neck. It wasn't until he heard a soft whine from Eddie, and then the Omega was suddenly stiffening in his arms, that he realized that his face was practically _buried_ in his neck, nose tucked behind his ear and lips against the gentle curve of his shoulder, almost drowning himself in the scent of honey that was washing over him in waves.

It _had_ to be the scent of arousal.

It _had_ to be.

Richie's arms tightened around Eddie's waist at the sound that the smaller boy had let out, wanting to fold their bodies together and curl around one another somewhere that smelt like both of them—preferably in one of their beds—and then his head jerked up as he remembered that they weren't alone...

Except Beverly and Stan were already moving around _very_ quickly, packing things up and Beverly wasn't being subtle about the way she kept trying to cover her nose.

"I need those clothes!" Beverly yelled from the other side of the room. Richie felt a bit dizzy with desire, and with how good Eddie smelt, he really didn't want to let him go. But it wasn't his place to hold onto him, to protect him away from anyone else in the room, so he let go of Eddie, although not before brushing his lips against Eddie's ear and he relished in the shiver that he felt run through the smaller boy.

"You change first, love," he whispered, and Eddie's head nodded a couple of times before he walked away, and Richie was happy to see that his gait was slightly unsteady. Once Richie came out from behind the privacy screen, it was only him and Beverly left in the room, and he couldn't stop his frown.

"Don't even start with me," Beverly made a gagging expression at him. "The only reason I'm still in this room is because I need your outfit, otherwise I'd be gone as well." Richie nodded as he carefully handed her his clothes and helped her tuck them into the garment bag. "_Please_ resolve all this sexual tension before I get back for New Years," Beverly jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "I never want to choke on all of _that_ again."

Richie just smirked.

* * *

**_So you're sticking around for Christmas then, love?_**

The radio station went offline on the twenty-third, when the university officially closed down over the Christmas break, and Richie's next shift after that wasn't until the second week of January, so he had picked up a couple of extra shifts so that he would be comfortable in the weeks that went by. It wasn't like money was an issue for him, given his parents still made deposits into his account every few weeks, but he liked being able to pay for his own things.

But pretty much all be was being requested to play was Christmas songs, and he _detested_ Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey, even though he knew that it was a controversial opinion, and he was going out of his mind.

_Yeah. Usually I'll spend Xmas with Bill and his family, but they're going to be with a lot of extended family this time, and I didn't want to intrude._

Richie had never actually heard much about Eddie's family, but he figured it probably wasn't something that Eddie wanted to discuss over text, if it was something that he hadn't brought up in conversation before.

**_Did you want to spend it together then?_**

Richie let out an annoyed sigh as the Mariah Carey classic came to an end and he had to start chattering again. He had to keep it short, because his head was really _not_ in the game, so he took a call from some girl who wanted to dedicate a Carly Ray Jepsen song to her Alpha boyfriend, queued the song up and then quickly picked his phone up, eyebrows raising when he saw that there was more than one response.

_Yes._

_Dumbass._

_I like ham more than turkey and we HAVE to make a gingerbread house._

Richie's grin nearly broke his face in half.

* * *

That Thursday night was the last night before Christmas that they could all spend together, since Mike was heading home tomorrow. There was a pop quiz night at one of the local pubs that was also doing half priced jugs of beer and it seemed as though a lot of students had the same idea as them because the place was practically overflowing. It was a good thing that Beverly, Ben and Mike had gotten there early to spread out over a booth or else they wouldn't have somewhere to sit. People were drunk and they were in high spirits and even if they _weren't_ drunk and high, with the amount of pheromones that were pumping through the pub, there were enough to make everyone feel a bit dizzy. Eddie arrived with Stan last, but he jabbed his finger playfully in Mike's side over and over again until the Beta laughed and relented and made room so that Eddie could sit next to Richie.

Eddie didn't drink much and neither did Richie, but they were both flushed and giggly as though they had. They were pressed together in the crowded booth, Eddie spouting out weird facts about the questions that were being shouted out from the front of the pub, and Richie drawing penises in all shapes and forms over their answer card, even though Stan and Beverly keep trying to swat his hands away.

"Oh for fucks sakes," Stan seemed to give up when Richie just started drawing on top of Stan's hand when he slapped his hand down over the paper to protect it from Richie's pen. "You are a _literal_ child."

"I certainly hope not," came a comment from Eddie before there was a squeeze on Riche's upper thigh and his grip on the pen faltered. Stan didn't hear what Eddie had to say, but he saw Richie's grip loosen and his hand lashed out, grabbing the pen and then _throwing_ it across the room, into the crowds of people.

Richie blinked at him and the table went quiet for a moment as they watched the pen soar through the air before disappearing into the crowd.

"Well," Richie stated, leveling Stan with a look. "Who's the child now?" There was a snort from Bill and a giggle from Eddie and even Stan couldn't stop his smile, even though he was clearly trying to fight it.

Eddie was half-asleep by the time they left, and Richie so wanted to carry him back to his apartment, scent him all over and then fall asleep next to him, so that they could wake up together tomorrow, wrapped around one another. But Stan and Bill were leaving in the weekend, and it had already been decided that Eddie was staying the night with Stan and Bill to help them finish packing up and cleaning since his classes and placement had all finished so he had nothing on tomorrow. Bill hadn't been drinking, and his car was parked outside, so Richie settled for his arm around Eddie's waist and Eddie practically curled around him, escorting him out to the car. Mike and Bill were practically attached at the mouth, even though Mike was going over to say goodbye to Bill tomorrow before he left.

"You guys walking with us, Rich? Mike?" Beverly asked from where her and Ben were standing. Beverly had had a few drinks and she was resting her head on Ben's shoulder, and Ben had his arm wrapped around her shoulder, his lips pressed against her temple, and they really made a nice looking couple.

Not as nice as he and Eddie would hopefully make, but still.

"I'll text you when I get home," Eddie told him sleepily as he opened the passenger side door of Bill's car. Richie took off his scarf and twined it around Eddie's neck, circling it around twice and looping it in a single knot, big hands resting against Eddie's chest.

"And make sure—"

"I'll lock my door," Eddie finished and reached up on his toes, brushing a quick kiss to Richie's cheek, the second time he had done that, and then he was slipping into the car and Bill turned on the engine. Stan was in the back seat and Richie watched as Eddie put on his seat belt and then took a step back, closing the door firmly. Eddie looked at him with droopy eyelids as Bill reversed out of the parking spot, and then as Richie moved to join Beverly, Ben and Mike, Eddie lifted his hand. Richie thought he was going to wave, but then Eddie pulled the fingers at him and stuck out his tongue.

Richie's laugh bubbled out of his chest loudly.

* * *

"Rich? This better be important, you know I'm meant to be packing to go and getting as many orgasms as I can before I leave to Aunt Lyra's," Beverly snipped as she walked into his flat on Friday afternoon, arms folded over her chest as she turned up her nose at him.

"First of all, I know. Second of all, disgusting," Richie grumped under his breath and he heard the exact moment she saw why he had called and asked her to come over.

The redhead let out a squawk.

"What the fuck is that, Rich?!" She cried out and Richie groaned and fell backwards onto his couch and picked up one of his cushions and shoved it on top of his face, holding it there firmly.

"I _know_, I _knoooow_," he wailed pathetically. Beverly just kept laughing as she came over to the couch and sat on the arm next to where he was resting, patting the top of his head. "Maybe I was the most fucking prepared I've ever been in my life and I brought it for his birthday, and I kind of thought...I thought that we might be together by then or—I don't _know_, okay?! I just didn't know it was going to be _this_ big when I had it shipped."

"I'm pretty sure when you buy things online, they give you measurements," she retorted, but her fingers were calming as they stroked through his hair.

"I didn't pay that much attention!" Richie cried out, voice still muffled by the pillow. "I just saw it was big and cute and shit and so I got it."

"Right," Beverly laughed again. "So what do you need my help with?"

"I need to wrap it," Richie said, finally pulling away the cushion from his face and pouting up at Beverly, blinking behind his glasses since he hadn't put his contacts in that morning.

"Well, fuck," Beverly scrunched up her nose.

"I know," Richie sighed.

"I think we're going to need more wrapping paper," she decided.

"Agreed," he stated.

* * *

**_What do you want me to bring? For fooooood?_**

_We could do grocery shopping together?_

Richie absolutely despised grocery shopping. He wasn't a fan of shopping at all, he got bored easily and usually just wanted to keep moving, but the idea of doing something so _normal _and _domestic_ with Eddie sounded like one of the best possible things in the world.

**_YES!_**

_Lol, eager much? You know no matter where we go, it's gonna be packed?_

**_We could go late on Monday? I'm doing the final show at the station, working until 9. I can pick you up._**

_Typical Alpha. I'll pick YOU up from your work, then we can order an Uber._

And that was that.

Richie grinned down at his phone as he put it down on his kitchen bench and picked up the plastic salad bowl that was filled with cornflakes and milk.

_And bring me another hoodie._

Richie had officially lost four hoodies, three scarves and at least three shirts to Eddie now. He only had two hoodies left and none of them were his favourites, but he didn't even care. Although, it _would_ be nice if he got one of them back from the Omega, and they smelt like their entwined scents...

* * *

"This is crazy," Eddie wrinkled his nose as he looked around before reaching over to take Richie's hand. Tensions were high, and even with the scent neutralizers that were being pumped through the vents and into the air, but even though there were hundreds of other Alphas and Omegas around, Richie could clearly pick up on Eddie's concern, his distressed scent making him want to fix everything, even though grocery shopping really wasn't his forte.

"You've got a list, right?" Richie asked as he quickly took control of the situation, watching Eddie's wide eyes bounce around the shopping centre.

"Of _course_," Eddie managed to sound offended even though his hand was clammy in Richie's. Richie knew that it was just because he had been caught off guard, that Eddie could get anxious in social situations that he hadn't mentally prepared himself for, so he held out his other hand for the list, which Eddie handed over. Richie couldn't help but smile at the fact that Eddie's list was on festive green and red paper and written with a silver glittery gel pen in his big, loopy hand writing, but then he was turning back to Eddie.

"Come on, love," he murmured, and he squeezed Eddie's hand before his fingers moved. He let go of Eddie's hand but not of Eddie himself, instead letting his hands slide up to Eddie's wrist, wrapping his fingers around the Omega's delicate arm and giving it another squeeze, this time his body releasing calming pheromones. He felt Eddie react almost instantly, tension easing from his shoulders and body relaxing against his side. "Let's go get a cart."

"Look at that Gryffindor in you, taking charge and saving the day," Eddie mumbled under his breath, and Richie only _just_ heard it, and he let out a laugh.

_This_ was why he and Eddie were good together.

Even though right now, at this very moment, Richie's Alpha was comforting Eddie's Omega, Eddie was still _him_, and he was still making fun of Richie, even if it was a bit muted.

Richie stopped himself from burying his head in Eddie's neck, but he couldn't stop himself from ushering Eddie in front of him, and putting both of his hands on the rail of the cart. Then he huddled in close behind him, wrapped one arm protectively around Eddie's waist and put one hand on the the rail next to Eddie's and then walked into the main section of the store, Richie steering the trolley purposefully.

They weren't even pretending to put space in between their bodies, and Richie soaked up every moment he could. He felt the way Eddie sometimes tipped his head against Richie's chest when Richie had to reach past him to get something off a shelf, rubbing his cheek against the front of his sweatshirt and scenting him. He kept his hand on Eddie's hip when Eddie had to turn and bag some apples. Even the shopping centre was busy, Eddie had done his list in the order of where things were found in the store—because of _course_ he had—so they managed to get through quite efficiently. There were a couple of waits when they were in the deli section, picking up meat and when they got to the fridges, but the longest waits were at the check out lines, as expected. Eddie had been doing okay up until that point, but standing in queue and not able to go anywhere, and there were frustrated people raising their voices and children screaming and crying and the obnoxious sounds of Christmas carols merrily chiming overhead. Eddie was tensing again as they approached the conveyor belt, and Richie leaned in close, his lips brushing against the shell of Eddie's ear.

"You're okay, little Omega," he risked saying softly, before gently touching Eddie's elbow and moving to the other side of cart and beginning to unpack the contents.

The beautiful smell of happiness that blossomed from Eddie, delicate and gentle like roses and sunshine and fallen rain and undertones of citrus were impossible to ignore, even if Richie _hadn't_ been completely in-tune with the smaller man.

He couldn't hide his smile, and he didn't want to.

* * *

Even though Richie had the bigger apartment, Eddie had the more equipped kitchen, and so it was decided that that was where they were going to spend their Christmas. They had taken an Uber back to Eddie's apartment building and hauled all the groceries up on Monday night and part of Richie had wanted to stay the night, but they had already decided that Richie was going to stay tomorrow night, to help with some of the food prep and then on Wednesday morning, they would wake up on Christmas morning together. They hadn't talked about _where_ Richie was going to sleep, since Eddie's apartment only had one room, although his couch wasn't too uncomfortable, which was where he had slept when Eddie had been going through his soft heat. But because he was staying the next night, after they had put away the groceries, he decided to leave.

He also thought it was best because with the way that Eddie had responded to him in the store, with the way Eddie was gently holding onto the fabric of his sweatshirt and rubbing it between his fingers, with the way Eddie's scent kept spiking, he knew that they were teetering right on the edge of a precipice.

Richie _wanted_ them to fall over, he wanted them to fall together, but he wanted it to be right.

"I'll be back tomorrow," Richie whispered as he stood in the doorway and Eddie looked up at him with big, soft eyes, and it was clear that he wanted Richie to stay, even though it didn't seem as though he was going to say anything. Eddie leaned against his door, head tipped against the wood, watching as Richie leaned down to lace up his shoes and then shrugged into his jacket that he had taken off before they had started unpacking all of the groceries. "But I'll be back as soon as I wake up tomorrow." Eddie nodded, blinking slowly, eyelashes thick and seductive, and when Richie straightened back up, Eddie licked the point of his tongue purposefully slow along his lower lip, and the Alpha's breath felt thick in his throat.

Richie couldn't stop his eyes from tracing along the spit-slick lips and then look back up at Eddie with heavy eyes, his chest expanding as he breathed in the scent of honey that he now knew _had_ to be the scent of Eddie's slick.

The tension was thick between them as Eddie fluttered his eyelashes and then reached out and touched Richie's chest with his index finger, running it down slowly until he reached the zipper, giving it a gentle tug.

"Do I get a goodnight kiss, Alpha?" He asked, voice so quiet and _hesitant_ that Richie had to strain to hear him.

But he did.

He definitely heard Eddie.

He heard Eddie call him _Alpha_.

Richie couldn't help the growl that escape through his lips and his hand snapped up from his side, circling around Eddie's wrist, stopping the nervous movements on his jacket zipper. Eddie's eyes widened and his scent got stronger, and Richie knew that his was as well, because Eddie's nostrils flared and his pupils were blowing up, and as Richie's fingers tightened around Eddie's dainty wrist, he saw Eddie's eyes roll back for a split second before the Omega closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Richie didn't let go of Eddie's wrist, though, waiting for Eddie to open his eyes again, and then he leaned in slowly. There wasn't that much space between them, but he still moved slow enough that Eddie could pull back if he wanted to.

But he didn't.

Richie heard Eddie suck in a sharp breath and close his eyes again, tilting his face up to meet Richie's, and the hand that wasn't wrapped around Eddie's wrist reached up to touch Eddie's soft face. His cheek was so soft under the pads of his fingers, and his thick fingers slid down to cup his jaw, drawing the smaller man up, feeling Eddie raise up onto his toes, and every nerve in Richie's body felt as though it was sparking with life with what was coming.

Their lips brushed once, twice, and a third time.

Eddie's breathing was shaky as Richie rested his forehead against the Omega's. He couldn't stop himself from nuzzling his nose against Eddie's in a butterfly kiss, and the tender move seemed to break the tension, because Eddie let out a little huff of laughter, and Richie couldn't stop his wide smile.

Eddie bounced up again on his toes, bumping his nose against Richie's and pressing another soft, close-mouthed kiss to his lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Omega," Richie whispered and he _felt_ the shudder that ran through Eddie, he could _taste_ the anticipation unfurling between them—he could smell the spike in sweet pheromones and even though he wanted to stay, his hands fell to his sides and he took a step back. Eddie's cheeks were red and his eyes were a little glazed, and there was a gentle, happy smile on his face as he lifted his thumb and chewed down adorably on the corner of his painted nail.

"Bye, Rich," Eddie murmured.

"Bye, love," Richie replied as he began backing away. He paused and Eddie just rolled his eyes at him, a little huffy and a lot endearing.

"You know I only left the door unlocked that one time because you were coming over, right?" He asked, a little sassily. "I knew you were going to be there, like, two minutes after I got home."

"Lock the door," Richie said anyway, before flicking his fingers in a wave and then forcing himself to turn around, so that he wouldn't run back and finish what they had started.

* * *

Despite how excited they both were for spending the next two days, and the night together, Richie slept in until nearly midday. He hadn't set an alarm, because he was on _break_ and it was simply against the laws of nature to set an alarm to wake up when he was on _break_, but he really hadn't thought that he would sleep in so late. He only had one text from Eddie though, from half an hour ago, so it seemed as the other boy had only just woken up as well, and Richie dragged himself out of bed and into his shower to scrub down. His hand wrapped around his cock and lazily jerked himself off, one arm braced against the damp, tiled wall, thoughts of Eddie and his soft lips and gentle scents from last night flooding through him.

It didn't take him long to come, hardly any time at all, streaking against the tiled wall and hissing out a heavy breath through his teeth.

He had packed a bag last night with some things to take to Eddie's, and he had condoms tucked at the bottom of the bag, just in case. As he was leaving his apartment building—which felt eerily quiet, given it was all cheap student housing, and most of the inhabitants had left to go home by now—his phone rang, and when he pulled it out, his mum's face flashed up on screen. He shifted his hold on his canvas bag and swiped his thumb over the screen.

"Hey, mum," he greeted her as he reached the stairs.

"Richie, darling!" Maggie Tozier sounded a little tipsy which made him grin to himself. Christmas was the only time of year that his mother ever loosened up, and he was pretty sure that his parents had decided to go to France, so that would also explain why she was already drunk. "I just wanted to ring you and make sure you knew that you were still most welcome to come out and join us!" His mum and dad had asked him a few times to come to France with them for Christmas. Initially, Richie had been considering it, since it was _Christmas_, and it was pretty much _the_ holiday that you spent with family. But his dad would be making work connections while there, and his mum would be distracted with the husbands and wives of his dads work colleagues, and he'd had put up with that so many times before that he had told them this year he just had too much that he had on with school, even though that was a slight stretch. "We will still be able to get you a ticket!"

"It's okay, mum. I'm spending Christmas with a friend," Richie told her as he took the stairs down to the second floor, and then the first. "Besides, even if I managed to get a flight, I would be flying all today, and then dealing with jet lag all Christmas, and it would just be bullshit."

"I suppose so," Maggie hummed on the other end of the line, and she sounded sad, which was understandable—she didn't even tell him off for cursing. It wasn't the first Christmas that Richie hadn't spent with his parents, but even though they weren't the closest family, they were _still_ family. "Make sure you call us tomorrow though, right? Can't go by Christmas without hearing from my boy."

"I'll call you, promise," Richie said as he pushed open the front doors of the apartment building, hitching the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder. "I love you, mum."

"I love you too, darling."

* * *

Eddie's apartment kind of looked as though a bunch of Christmas elves had come in and just vomited green, red and gold. It was gaudy and tacky and it was going to be a hell of a mess to clean up whenever they decided to take everything down, but Richie absolutely loved it, and he laughed as Eddie opened the door and he saw the place for the first time. Eddie was wearing a pair of leggings that made his thighs look edible and a fluffy pair of green socks with big white reindeer and, of course, one of the jerseys that he had stolen from Richie, even though it wasn't particularly festive.

"Rich," Eddie greeted him with a small smile, eyes twinkling.

"Eds," Richie responded and Eddie's smile dropped, eyes narrowing and eyebrows pulling together.

"_Hey_," he actually sounded grumpy, his bottom lip sticking out a little. "You don't call me that anymore..." Richie couldn't stop his smile at the fact that Eddie had noticed that he _had_ stopped calling Eddie by the nickname that he claimed he hated.

"I know, love," Richie amended and Eddie's face positively glowed. Richie leaned in to give Eddie a quick kiss on the forehead before stepping into the apartment and then raising his eyebrows as he took in _more_. "Wow. So...You love Christmas?" Because even the _kitchen_ looked as though there had been elves emptying their stomachs of tinsel and tiny silver bells.

"I love the _idea_ of Christmas," Eddie corrected as he closed the door and locked it and then turned back around. "I've only had a couple of good Christmas', but I feel this ones going to measure up." Richie put his bag down on the inside of the bathroom door, just so it was out of the way, and then came back out and he shook his head as he saw Eddie pottering around the kitchen, looking adorable and domestic. "I was thinking we could do all the food prep and stuff today, so then we just need to cook everything tomorrow?"

"Sounds perfect," Richie nodded. "Well, we all know what I'm like in the kitchen, so I'll follow your lead."

And, of course, they made the perfect team.

There were absolutely _no_ Christmas carols or Mariah Carey or Michael Bublé played through the bluetooth speaker, which just made things even better. It actually sounded like a summer playlist that was bopping away, stuff from the early 2000's, and Richie knew almost every song that came on, singing along terribly, warbling in Eddie's ear and making him squawk and shove the Alpha away with a laugh. Richie helped with peeling and chopping up and doing the washing and drying of the dishes, but Eddie was the one doing most of the baking and cooking. He prepped everything for a roast vegetable salad, for both roast potatoes and mashed potato, because Richie was adamant about _roast_ potatoes and Eddie stomped his foot when it came to _mashed_ potatoes. There was an incredible looking—albeit small—ham and a rosemary and garlic roast beef that he was going to put into the slow cooker that he borrowed from Stan in the morning. Then there were the cookies and the peacan pie, that looked to die _for_.

It was nearly eleven o'clock and they were halfway through _The Holiday_ and decorating Eddie's gingerbread house and Richie was settled on the couch behind where Eddie was kneeling on the floor, watching Eddie and stealing M&M's from the neon green ceramic bowl more than he was helping to decorate.

All day, it had been made just even _more_ clear how good they were for each other, how well they worked together, and that it was clear the chemistry between them was leading toward something. Something _good_. Richie just adored everything about Eddie, even the things that annoyed him and sometimes lead to snippy comments between them, and he also couldn't help that his Alpha recognized Eddie as a good Omega, a good partner. Sharing the workload with him in the kitchen as they prepared for their _shared_ Christmas together, and looking over at Eddie with his cheeks flushed from the heat of the oven as he pulled out his batch of sugar cookies, the blood in_ his veins felt as though it was singing_.

Right now, Eddie had a piping bag in one hand and a couple of sticky M&M's in the other, but he had been completely distracted from the gingerbread house on the coffee table in front of him, all of his focus on the movie, and it actually looked as though he was on the verge of crying. Richie had watched this movie a couple of times before, although it wasn't one he had liked as much as _Eddie_ did clearly, because the boy looked completely swept up in the Christmas movie. Cameron Diaz's character was running through the snow back to the Omega man that they _all knew_ she was bound to end up with. Richie's eyes were flicking between Eddie and the movie, watching as the blonde Alpha fumbled with the front gate and then shoved open the front door, yelling out for Jude Law's character. The Omega appeared, clearly in the middle of bawling his eyes out, and there was a shuddering sigh from Eddie, trying to suppress his tears.

"Aw, love," Richie couldn't help but coo out.

"Shut up," Eddie grumbled, but it was thin and watery and Richie couldn't stop his instincts from taking over. He reached out, taking the piping bag from Eddie's hand and laying it down on one of the cloths that he had laid down to stop things from making such a mess and then he took the M&M's and added them back to the bowl. He gathered Eddie up in his arms and pulled him into his lap, and Eddie went willingly, his eyes still glued to the TV as they watched the little speech between Cameron and Jude, before they were rushing toward each other and hugging, and Cameron was scenting Jude's neck with her hand.

"You're so sweet, Omega," Richie murmured, nuzzling his nose into Eddie's hair, which smelt a little like sugar along with his natural scent, not even pretending that he didn't want to call Eddie _Omega_. Just like he didn't want to pretend that he didn't want to hear Eddie call him _Alpha_ again.

_Desperately_.

"No," Eddie grumbled back, even as he was lifting his hand to wipe his hand across his face to hide his tears. Richie could smell the very faint scent of salt from his tears but he wasn't worried, since he knew Eddie was just emotional over the movie. Richie's arms tightly surrounded Eddie's small body, holding him close on his lap, and Eddie subtly tried to snuggle backwards, even though his movements were very clear. Richie swallowed hard when Eddie moved for the third time, grinding his ass a little and the way that his cock twitched was unmissable. Every now and then, Eddie would go still, and Richie was careful not to move, his hips or his hands or his face where it was pressed against the back of Eddie's head, in his mess of curls, not wanting to push anything too fast or too far, but then Eddie would move again and there would be another rush of pheromones from the Omega. The movie was finished and the credits were rolling and neither of them were saying anything, Eddie cradled in Richie's lap and Richie's arms around him, and the tension between them felt as though it was thick enough to suffocate them.

Their twined scents were becoming headier, and Richie could smell his own scent wrapping together with Eddie's, and it was enough to make his Alpha feel high.

"Alpha?" Eddie's whimper was low and Richie's thighs tensed under Eddie, and his eyelids flickered at the sound from the beautiful boy on his lap. "Are you going to take me to bed?" Eddie's voice was low but sweet and syrupy and he had to know what he was doing to Richie. A growl was ripped from inside Richie and then he was standing up, picking up Eddie and rearranging him in a flurry of limbs, and then Eddie's legs were wrapping around his waist and they were face to face.

"You want me to take you to bed, precious Omega?" Richie asked, and even though the moment was hot and heated, his words were soft and careful and Eddie's entire being just seemed to _give_.

"Yes, Alpha," he replied, sounding almost dreamy. Richie swallowed hard as he nodded, eyes darting down to Eddie's lips, that he had only gotten to taste in a couple of short moments last night, and then raised them back up to meet Eddie's. "Take me to bed." Richie nodded again and he started moving, one foot in front of the other, looking over Eddie's shoulder to where they were going and tightening his arms around the Omega, not wanting to trip with his precious cargo. They get to Eddie's room, Richie nudging the door open with his knee, and he walks carefully in the direction of the bed in the corner of the room that he remembered from the only other time that he was in here, even though it was dark. He put Eddie carefully down on the edge of the bed and then unfortunately straightened back up, but only because he wanted to find a light switch, since he didn't want to miss a thing. "Wait, wait..." Eddie trailed off and Richie could hear him shifting on the bed and then he was fumbling with something and a second later, little fairy lights were lighting up where they were twined around a mini Christmas tree that was sitting, all decorated on his bedside table.

"That is fucking adorable," Richie smirked as he looked at it. Eddie tilted his head as he looked up at him and then flopped back down on his pillow and he pointed his finger above his head. Richie's smile changed to something sweeter as he saw what Eddie was pointing to.

Mistletoe.

"Did some planning ahead, huh?" Richie asked, but he couldn't find it in himself to have a proper teasing tone. Eddie narrowed his eyes and then jabbed his finger at the mistletoe again, and then gave him a pointed look. "Right, sorry," Richie flashed him one last smile before stretching out over Eddie until his face was right over his. "Hey."

"Hey," Eddie's eyes _glowed_ with adoration, and Richie knew that it was reflected back in his eyes.

Their lips met, and it was something like the planets aligning because Richie knew that _this was it_.

Richie lowered himself onto the bed beside Eddie, their lips never leaving each others, and Eddie opened his mouth for Richie. Richie touched the tip of his tongue to Eddie's, and _instantly_ there was a guttural moan from the Omega, one that made Richie moan in response and lick further into Eddie's mouth. Eddie just gave himself to Richie, he opened his mouth and let Richie in, let Richie take gentle control as he stroked a hand over Eddie's stomach, over top the material of the shirt he was wearing—_Richie's_ shirt, that smelt strongly of the Alpha, that made him preen. Eddie shifted a little under the kisses and the touch, and without opening his eyes or pulling away from Richie's mouth, he covered Richie's hand with his own, soft and sure. Richie's tongue searched out and tasted Eddie's mouth, drinking in everything, and he was so lost in Eddie's mouth that at first he didn't feel Eddie moving his hand, guiding it underneath his shirt. But then his hand was pressing against the warm, vulnerable skin of Eddie's belly and he felt Eddie draw in a sharp breath and that made him pull back just a little.

"You sure about this?" Richie asked, lips forming the words against Eddie's spit-slick mouth.

"So sure," Eddie replied, breathing the words into Richie's mouth, arching his back and pressing his stomach harder against Richie's hand.

"We don't..." Richie's nose was filled with Eddie's scent, the smell of their arousal heavy and heady in the air, making words harder. "We don't have to go all the way. There's...There's other things that we can do." Eddie's hand, which was still over Richie's, froze for a second, then he curled his fingers around Richie's and dug his nails in purposefully.

"If you don't put something in me, I'm gonna find someone who will," Eddie told him, and there was some bite to his words.

Richie _knew_ that Eddie was just saying it to get him to move along, to get a reaction, but all Richie's Alpha knew was that Eddie was threatening to be with someone else.

There was another growl, a deeper one, one that vibrated in Richie's chest and made Eddie go still and then pliant underneath him, the Omega letting out a happy sigh as his hand fell back to his side, trusting Richie to take over. Richie's fingers traced circles around Eddie's belly button, and he so desperately wanted to tear all of Eddie's clothes off, but on the other hand, he also _really_ liked Eddie smelling like both of them. Then again, with where all of this was heading, they were _both_ going to smell like each other.

Richie undressed Eddie first, kissing every inch of skin that was uncovered, and every now and then he would leave a bite that made Eddie hiss and twitch underneath him. Eddie's eyes were hooded and he kept sucking his lower lip into his mouth, one arm wrapped loosely around Richie's back and occasionally pulling at the material of the shirt that he was wearing while the other was twisted in the top duvet. Richie was hard and the idea of finally being buried inside Eddie was making his Alpha shake and whine inside him, torn between jumping right to the endgame of being buried inside Eddie and stretching him with his knot, and taking his time, because Eddie deserved all the love and gentleness in the world. And what made it better was the fact that Eddie was just _offering_ himself up to him, despite how fiesty the Omega could be.

The Alpha's hands went to the the band of the leggings that Eddie was wearing, one finger gently dipping under the elastic band before he looked back up at his lover. Eddie's chest was rising and falling quickly, and he met Richie's eyes briefly and gave a short nod of consent before Richie began pulling down the leggings and the pink and blue dotted underwear that he was wearing. As he began to slide them down, Eddie's scent just got stronger, and Richie's eyes rolled back and he couldn't help but let out a groan and lean forward and bury his nose into the closely trimmed hair at Eddie's groin, just inhaling his scent.

"_Fuck_!" Eddie cried out, hips bucking upward. "Fuck, I—_Alpha_, I—" his hips bucked upward again and Richie swallowed hard as he pulled himself back to look up at Eddie, taking in the way Eddie's pupil had blown so wide Richie almost couldn't see the ring of colour from his iris.

"I've got you, Omega," Richie whispered, voice thick with emotion as he forced himself to move away from where Eddie's scent was the strongest, ridding Eddie of his leggings, briefs and socks, which got a bit tangled around his ankles, and there were breathless giggles from Eddie as he kicked his feet a few times to help Richie. The giggles and awkward motions broke some of the tension, and when Richie laid back down at Eddie's side, the smaller boy pulled at his shirt, trying to tug it upward.

"You're overdressed for the occasion," he stated grumpily, sounding almost offended, and Richie smiled.

He nearly fell off the bed undressing, given he didn't want to detach himself from Eddie's side, but he made it work, and then their naked bodies were pressed together and Richie could _feel_ the relief that came from Eddie, and it was definitely coursing through his own body as well, finally being able to lay next to the Omega with no barriers between them. Richie cupped Eddie's face, fingers gentle as they brushed against the shell of his ear as their lips met softly.

"Let me look after you, love," Richie whispered, and there was a low whimper from Eddie as they shared breaths. Richie shifted, up onto his knees, running his hand down one of Eddie's arms, down to his hand, and he saw the hairs raise and the goosebumps appear, and he couldn't help the way he smiled at the fact that he was affecting Eddie so clearly. He sucked at Eddie's upper lip before he moved, both hands smoothing down Eddie's pale thighs, and Eddie whined and twisted underneath him. Richie shifted, coaxing Eddie's legs open—which he willingly parted—and then sat back on his haunches between his thighs, getting an even more incredible view than he had before, and inhaling the incredibly amazing scent of Eddie's arousal. "Just keep your hands there for me, yeah? Be good for me?" Richie asked in a soft voice as he leaned forward, his fingers twined together with Eddie's and he slowly slid them up so they were above Eddie's head, resting on the pillow. "That's it, love. So good." Eddie's breathing shuddered as Richie's tongue pressed between his lips.

Their bodies were pressed together, warm and bare, and Richie couldn't help the way that his hips rutted forward slightly, his cock rubbing against Eddie's stomach in a slide that was made a bit easier by the precome that was steadily dripping. Eddie shivered and rolled his hips up to meet Richie's hips, and for a brief moment, their cocks rubbed together and there were hisses from both of them, before Richie pulled back.

"Such a perfect Omega," Richie whispered, fingers trailing down Eddie's chest. As he reached his ribs, he thought about all the things that he wanted to do to the boy in front of him. But that could all come later, another time. He traced his fingers over the words of the Peter Pan tattoo, over the delicate script inscribed on Eddie's beautiful body, '_to live would be an awfully big adventure_', looking up at the dark haired boy. "So beautiful," Richie whispered and looked back at Eddie, who was watching him with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Richie..." he breathed, hiccuping as Richie circled his lips around one of Eddie's nipples, sucking it into his mouth and brushing his teeth against the sensitive nub. Richie's whole body was tense, and he could feel that Eddie's was as well, shaking underneath him, and it was taking a lot for Richie not to manhandle Eddie, flip him over and pull him up onto his knees so that he was presenting for him.

But it was their first time together and Richie wanted it to be right and not rushed.

They had plenty of time for that later.

Hopefully over and over and over again.

"Shit, love," Richie bit down at Eddie's nipple, hard enough that there was going to be a mark and there was another hiss from Eddie, and when their eyes met again, he looked hazy with lust.

"God, I just..._Come on_," he groused a little, sounding breathless, and Richie couldn't stop the wicked smirk on his face before he moved to Eddie's other nipple, the one with the piercing, with the cute pink diamond studs. Richie laved his tongue over the nipple and played with the piercing, and then bit down—_hard_—relishing Eddie's gasp and the way his back bowed off the bed. "Richie!" Eddie moaned, his hands clenching into fists, clearly wanting to reach out and grab Richie but stopping himself from it.

_Because Richie had told him to._

That made Richie's Alpha so happy that the Omega was listening to him, doing what he'd asked, even though there was still embers burning in his eyes as he looked down at him reminding Richie of the fire that usually burned there. It just made the whole thing so much sweeter, made it feel so much more natural, that Eddie's spark was still burning through, deep and fierce. He wondered what Eddie would be like after he had come, if he would go completely pliant, if he would submit to Richie completely.

He took in another deep breath through his nose, taking in Eddie's slightly different scent, sweeter, heavy, like the most divine, exotic honey, and Richie's cock throbbed against his stomach, knowing what the cause of the shift in scent was. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment before he reached his hands down, thumbs pressing into Eddie's hip bones and fingers stretching down, almost vibrating with the need to touch the slick that he _knew_ was between Eddie's legs. He began sliding down, bending himself forward—almost in two—as his hands continued pushing Eddie's legs up and apart, Eddie moaning as he was slowly spread open.

"You're wet, love," Richie couldn't help but breathe he finally saw Eddie's most hidden spot, his tiny hole furled and shiny and there was a high pitched whine from Eddie as he writhed underneath him. "God..." he had to reach a hand between his legs and awkwardly squeeze the base of his cock and then give himself a bit of relief by tugging twice. He moved down a bit further, knees nearly at the edge of the bed now and his face directly over Eddie's cock. He didn't pay it attention straight away though, licking at the sensitive skin around it, biting at his hips and lower stomach, before he reached Eddie's trimmed pubic hair and stroked the long fingers of one hand through the dark coloured strands, watching as Eddie's stomach quivered at the touch. "You smell incredible. You smell _fucking amazing_." Eddie tossed his head back, brown hair a mess against the light purple pillow. Their scents were going to be spread all over Eddie's bed, not just over the pillows and the sheets, but it would sink into the mattress and cling for weeks to follow. Although, Richie was planning on making sure that they repeated this enough times that their scents would be forever entrenched there.

"Ri-_chie_," Eddie whined, and there was a flush spreading down from his cheeks, to his neck and chest. His nipples were damp and hard and Richie reached up with one hand to play with the pierced one for a few moments as he mouthed along his stomach before burying his face in the crease of Eddie's thigh. "Please." Richie's shoulders tensed at that and he looked back up. Eddie still had his eyes closed, hands clenching and unclenching in his hair, his lips were parted and spit-slick.

"Say that again, sweet love," Richie whispered, hoping that Eddie knew what he wanted, and watching the goosebumps spread rapidly across Eddie's tanned skin, either in response to the touches, or to the term of endearment, or both.

Richie hoped both.

"_Please_, Richie, _please_," Eddie forced his eyes open so that he could meet Richie's, and Richie smiled at him, dark red lips curving in a pleased smile.

"You beg so pretty, little Omega. You want to come for me?" He kept playing with Eddie's nipple as his mouth _finally_ moved to Eddie's cock, laving his tongue over the tip, the precome salty which smelt the opposite of how Richie knew Eddie's slick was going to taste, making Richie smile. He sucked at the head, dipping his tongue into the slit, licking at the new bubble of precome as Eddie groaned and arched off the bed, pushing the head of his cock further between Richie's lips, but Richie pulled back a little and there was a whimper from Eddie. "How many times can you come, sweetheart?" Richie asked softly.

"I don't...I don't know..." Eddie mumbled restlessly, eyebrows pulling together and forehead wrinkling, looking distressed that Richie no longer had his mouth on him.

"I'm sure you have an idea, Eddie," Richie murmured, licking at Eddie's cock and moving his hand to Eddie's other nipple, twisting and pulling and loving every reaction that he was pulling from the Omega. Eddie was moving restlessly and sighing and Richie's nose twitched as the smell of honey got stronger, mingling together with the citrus and rosewater of Eddie's natural scent. "C'mon, sweetheart, let me know." Eddie's shoulders tightened and he swallowed hard, his throat contracting.

"Three? Maybe f-four times?" Eddie finally answered shakily and Richie only dipped his head in a nod before sliding his head down to take all of Eddie's cock into his mouth. Eddie almost yelped in surprise at the suddenness, not expecting Richie to abruptly take him inside. Eddie wasn't small, especially for an Omega, but Richie's gag reflex had never really been an issue and with Eddie's scent filling his nose and the beautiful boy spread out underneath him, it was easy to ignore the slightly uncomfortable sensation of Eddie's cock nudging the back of his throat before he adjusted to it. Eddie moaned and his hips kept twitching upward, as though he wanted to roll them forward, but he didn't, managing to restrain himself, because he was _still_ listening to Richie, because he was _perfect_.

Richie started sucking and licking harder, swallowing around Eddie's cock and tugging at Eddie's piercing with a few long fingers.

"Shit!" Eddie cried out, body jerking upward and Richie smiled up at him as best as he could around Eddie's cock. He watched as Eddie curled his fingers into fists to force himself not to move his hands, and the fact that he was trying so hard to listen was making Richie drip against the bed. Richie moved faster, until his lips were sliding right off Eddie's wet cock with an obscene sound.

"How about we start with two, sweet love? Save the others for later," he sent Eddie a salacious smile that made the Omega thump his head back on his pillow and squeeze at the duvet covers. He wasn't sure if it was the promise of another round later with more orgasms or the pet name, but either way, he could smell more slick sliding out of Eddie, and it was making his forming knot _throb_. "You keep those hands up for me, yeah? Let me do this for you?"

"Y-yeah," Eddie breathed out shakily and Richie smiled, and he couldn't help but give Eddie's piercing another pull and then reach up and give him another sloppy kiss before he nipped at his chin.

"Can I taste you? _There_?" He whispered and Eddie's eyes rolled back as he let out a throaty moan, although he didn't say anything in the way of yes or no. Richie sucked at the head of Eddie's cock a few more times before looking back up at him through thick eyelashes. "I need you to tell me I can, Eddie baby. I'm not doing anything without you telling me I can." There was another sound from Eddie, a complicated sound like a huff and a moan, but when Richie looked back up at him, Eddie was quiet and just staring back.

He nodded once at Richie, his face filled with love and trust, and Richie couldn't help but press a few fond kisses to Eddie's thigh before his mouth slid lower.

The first taste of Eddie's slick almost had Richie popping his knot and coming all over the duvet cover. He tasted as sweet and as rich as the honey he smelt like—even _better_ than he smelt—which Richie had thought was near impossible. As Richie's tongue began to lap at the silky skin between the crease of Eddie's ass, Eddie moaned and started writhing, trying to grind himself down on Richie's face. A small part of Richie wanted to fight against the movement, to be the one fully in control, but it was Eddie getting lost in the moment and enjoying the pleasure and he didn't want to take from that. The tip of his tongue circled the ring of muscle that Richie could already feel was loosening and Eddie's moans were falling from his lips steadily as his hips began rolling to their own rhythm.

By the sounds of it, he was only moments away from his orgasm, and by the way that the slick kept dripping from his hole and onto Richie's tongue.

"You sound so pretty," Richie rasped, pulling back from Eddie only a _tiny_ bit, and blowing cool air over the damp, sticky skin. "You going to come for me?" He flattened his tongue and licked from Eddie's winking hole, up over his perineum and to his balls, taking one into his mouth and sucking and then the other. Eddie whined and shuddered and Richie watched as Eddie's cock jerked and bounced against his stomach, where precome was smeared. When Richie pulled back with a wet pop, the lower half of his face was almost _dripping_ with spit and slick. "You going to come for your Alpha?" He asked softly, watching Eddie's reaction carefully, just a tiny bit worried.

He didn't need to be.

Eddie cried out at the words and suddenly he was coming, even though Richie wasn't touching him between the legs anymore, and all Richie could do was stare at him, wide eyed and in awe.

Although he didn't remain motionless for long, because as soon as Eddie's body stopped shuddering, Richie was lunging forward, stretching over Eddie and smashing their lips together, their teeth clicking and noses bumping, sharing the taste of Eddie's slick between them, still on his tongue. Eddie's responding kiss was a little lethargic, his body feeling spent from the orgasm that had made a mess over his torso, but the whimpers he was giving it made it clear that he was enjoying Richie's reaction. Richie couldn't stop himself from squeezing a hand between them, sliding it through the mess that Eddie had made and then rubbing it on his own stomach, smearing the come with Eddie's strong scent over his skin.

"My Omega," he whispered as he pulled back from Eddie's kiss to look at his beautiful, watery eyes.

"My Alpha," Eddie returned with a shaky voice, and a tear slipped from one of his eyes. Richie kissed him again, firm but tender and quickly deepening, a primal urge beginning to flare up inside him again at those words.

"I need to be in you," Richie murmured and Eddie's head jerked quickly in a nod which nearly lead to them cracking skulls, but they shifted around it.

"Pleaseplease_please_," Eddie breathed and Richie smiled slightly, the tip of his nose brushing Eddie's cheek.

"Love it when you beg, sweet love," he murmured. "That's something I'm going to want to hear so much of later." As much as it pained him to break the contact between their bodies, he pulled back so that he was kneeling over Eddie again, and his eyes were drawn back to the mess on his stomach. He stroked another finger through the mess, bringing it up to his mouth and sucking it between his lips. Eddie wiggled his hips and whined as he watched Richie clean off his finger and it looked as though he was _finally_ going to move his arms, but he still didn't, making Richie prouder still.

"Alpha..." Eddie mumbled, trying to prompt Richie along gently although clearly feeling a little impatient. Richie settled back on his heels and ran his hands down Eddie's thighs, lifting them until they were bent at the knee, open for him.

"So beautiful," Richie breathed as he stroked his thumb down the back of Eddie's leg, from the back of his ankle, down the smooth, completely hairless skin of his upper thigh. His nail scratched lightly at the skin before sliding inwards and feeling where Eddie's slick was coating the inside of his thighs, making Richie exhale shakily at the obvious arousal. "You're so wet. So wet for me." He hooked Eddie's leg over his shoulder and then smoothed his hand down Eddie's other leg, which he circled around Richie's thigh, and Eddie whimpered, his hips rolling forward.

"Rich—R-Rich—_God_, can you just do it?" Eddie's plea was breathless.

"Yeah?" Richie murmured, leaning forward, his chest applying pressure to the leg that Eddie had over Richie's shoulder, separating Eddie's legs more and it made the Omega moan and arch underneath him, but it didn't seem as though he was in pain. Richie leaned in, nuzzling under his jaw, and Eddie pliantly tipped his head back, his nails scratching at the pillow above his head. His nose pressed at the sensitive flesh under Eddie's jaw, following it back to his ear and just inhaling deeply, getting high off the scent. The way that Eddie was just _submitting_ to him made his Alpha rumble in approval. "You still so desperate, little Omega?" He bit down at Eddie's jaw and there was a violent twitch from the smaller boy. "You've already come..."

"Richie..." Eddie all but whined and Richie _knew_ that Eddie could feel his smile against the side of his neck.

"You want my knot? Is that it, beautiful boy?" Richie nibbled again at Eddie's skin, dipping lower down Eddie's neck and then sucking sharply and Eddie's body jerked again. He wasn't sure where all the terms of endearment were coming from, but he just wanted to shower Eddie with everything good and right. "Is that what you're so desperate for?"

"_Please_!" Eddie forced his eyes open, teary and bloodshot and desperate. "I want your knot, Alpha." Richie's eyes widened from their half-hooded position and a growl was shoved out of him, biting down harshly at the side of Eddie's neck as his hips jutted forward, his cock sliding against the slick skin of Eddie's ass, and Eddie let out a juddering moan. He didn't bite hard enough to break skin—he wouldn't do that to any part of Eddie, not yet—but they could both feel the intent, and Richie's Alpha was pulsing inside him, wanting to be buried inside Eddie's tight heat, wanting to make both of them feel good, wanting to twine together with Eddie's Omega in the closest possible way they could, other than bonding. Richie took in a calming breath, although even then, all he could smell was everything _Eddie_, which made his body prickle, but he contained himself.

"Just so perfect," Richie breathed out once more, pressing one last, soft kiss to Eddie's sweaty neck before he was moving back to rest on his haunches to look toward the door. "I need to go and get a condom, I've got some in my bag." Eddie just shook his head and pointed at his drawer. Richie opened it and noted a brand new box of condoms, still wrapped in their cellophane, and it was a variety pack, including ones for knots. Richie almost flashed a thankful smile up at Eddie for being so prepared, but then Eddie's leg that had been over his shoulder slid down, his foot resting on his Richie's chest and his head tilted to the side as he watched Richie, and all the Alpha could think about was ripping open the packaging and taking out one of the knot condoms. Eddie's breathing was uneven and his piercing kept catching the twinkling fairy lights of the tiny Christmas tree beside them in a pretty way. Richie rolled the condom on, looser around the base where his knot would expand, and then leaned back in, easily hitching both of Eddie's legs over his shoulders and he heard the catch in Eddie's breath. He couldn't help but smirk as he looked down at the Omega beneath him. "You like that, sweet love?" He asked, voice syrupy and sweet. "Me moving you around to where I want you?" Eddie's eyes flashed and his pink, bitten lips parted as though he was trying to say something, but then Richie shifted the position of his hips and began to press inside the slick, warm heat of Eddie's tight hole. He didn't need any further prep, Richie's mouth and biology already working its magic, and Richie could _visibly see_ that Eddie was ready.

"_Please_, Richie," Eddie whined. "Please, I—" the head of Richie's cock breached Eddie's hole, and the Omega stiffened, his whole body tightening at the intrusion and Richie stilled, letting him adjust. But then Eddie rolled himself forward, hitching his hips up off the bed so that more of Richie's length sunk inside of him, and Richie groaned before his body fell forward, effectively pinning Eddie down, the Omega at his mercy.

"_Just. Wait_," he growled through clenched teeth and sparking eyes and Eddie's own eyes were wide as they stared back up at him. There was a challenge being exchanged between them, until Eddie conceded, tilting his head back, exposing his neck, and his body relaxed again underneath Richie. "That's it, love. Let me look after you, like I said. Like we both need." Eddie's throat convulsed at that, swallowing shakily, but he kept his head back, waiting for Richie's next move.

Richie pushed inside him completely, slowly, inch by inch, and Eddie's walls were tight and hot and slick and perfect around him.

A groan was wrenched from inside his throat, and Eddie's eyebrows were puckered together as he breathed through the adjustment.

"Alpha?" He whined a little and Richie stilled, despite the overwhelming suction of Eddie's hole, he heard the neediness in the Omega's tone. "Can I touch you now? I—I need to touch you." Richie's eyelashes fluttered and then he nodded quickly, breathing harsh as he let his face fall forward, giving into his base desires to just _bathe_ himself in Eddie's scent. Eddie's arms grabbed at Richie's neck, wrapping around him as best as he could in his position, even though every time Richie thrust his hips forward, Eddie was shoved up the bed and his hands would slip.

"So perfect," Richie couldn't help but say again. "So absolutely perfect."

"You feel—_so good_," Eddie let out a choked out sob and Richie sucked at his neck again as his hips began moving faster. Eddie tried to pull him in closer with both his legs, even though they were hooked over Richie's shoulder and at an awkward angle which made it close to impossible to have any type of control. His arms were around Richie's neck, and their bodies were moving together, sticky in the best possible way from both of their sweat and Eddie's slick and come. There was no space between them, sharing hazy breaths between themselves and Richie could feel his knot beginning to form at the base of his cock. "Shit—_shit_, Rich—" Eddie shuddered underneath him as he felt the knot begin to catch on the rim of his ass as Richie's pace began to quicken.

"Mine...Right, little Omega?" Richie asked—or more correctly, _growled_—as his knot pulsed, his teeth gritted and the veins in his neck showing.

"And you're _mine_," Eddie's voice was faint and he sounded as though he was on the verge of passing out, but he still had that little bit of sass in his voice that Richie adored, and Richie drew in a shaky breath before twisting his head and pressing his lips back to Eddie's in a mess, sloppy mush of their mouths.

"Come, my Omega," Richie grunted as he ground his hips forward, knot almost fully popped inside Eddie's hole and unable to pull out again. Eddie groaned and whined under him and then suddenly there was more slick, and between them was stickier and the scent of honey was overpowering, signalling to Richie that Eddie had just come again, just from Richie's knot against his prostate, pressing firmly against that special spot.

"_Alpha_!" Eddie cried out underneath Richie, body going limp everywhere except for his hole around Richie's cock, which was clamped like a wet, hot vice, and a moment later, he was coming as well, his knot expanding as large as it would go at the base and Eddie whimpered as Richie emptied himself inside the condom, his bottom lip sucked into his mouth, looking absolutely delectable.

"My good Omega," Richie sighed as he collapsed forward, careful not to fall on Eddie, cradling the boy in his arms and sucking at his neck. "My perfect Omega," he whispered, and he felt Eddie smile dopily against his shoulder as his breathing began to even out, before he fell asleep, Richie not long after him, their heartbeats beating as one, bodies locked together.

* * *

The absolute last thing that Richie wanted to do when he woke up to the smell of sex and _his Omega_ was get out the warm bed. His eyes felt scratchy because he hadn't taken his contacts out last night—there had been much more pressing matters at hand—and he wrinkled up his nose as he rolled onto his back and fumbled with dry fingers to take them out. He had solution in his bag to put them in, but he was going to stick to his glasses today anyway, it wasn't as though they were going to leave the apartment.

Other than right now.

"Eddie," Richie's voice was low and raspy. There was a grumble from Eddie, before the Omega attempted to bury himself in Richie's chest. "Eddie, you can stay here, but I just have to leave."

"..._No_," came a whine, and then Eddie's fingers were grabbing at Richie's bony hip. "_Stay_." Eddie's body was warm and soft and inviting and there was nothing that Richie wanted to do more than to lay back down, but he reached down to pry Eddie's fingers off his hip. There was another whine from Eddie, and then he lifted his head, and Richie's stomach clenched and his heart soared at the sight of the Omegas face.

His lips were swollen and puffy, and his eyes were bloodshot, and his neck and collarbones were absolutely _mottled_ with bruises and love bites.

From _Richie_.

_He_ got to do that.

Multiple times last night after their first time, actually, which is why they had slept in so late today, even though the rule of Christmas was to wake up as early as possible.

"God, you're so pretty," Richie breathed out, leaning down to press a kiss to Eddie's mouth, not caring about morning breath. When he pulled back, Eddie was staring up at him with bleary eyes and pink cheeks. "Look, I'm only gonna be gone for a couple of minutes, okay?"

"_Whhhhy_?" Eddie pouted, eyebrows drawn down.

"I just need to go and get something," Richie replied with a small smile. Suddenly, the sleepiness disappeared from Eddie's face and something shrewd replaced it, eyes narrowing as he pulled back from Richie.

"Did you forget my present? On _Christmas_?" Eddie rolled his eyes. "I think I need a new Alpha already." He then let out a squawk as Richie grabbed him and pulled him in close, biting down at his neck, over one of the dark purple marks that he had left last night, and the fight instantly went out of the Omega, although there was still a light giggle in the air as Eddie was pushed back onto the mattress.

Richie was pretty sure that his adoration for Eddie _grew_ at the fact that despite everything that had happened last night, with Eddie submitting to him and letting him take over, in the morning, even as they were naked and stretched out in the bed that smelt like both of them, Eddie was still himself. Still playful and a bit sassy and more than willing to dish it out.

"I didn't _forget_ your present, my Omega," Richie told him, nuzzling his nose against Eddie's cheek and smiling to himself when he heard the hitch in Eddie's breath at the possessive endearment. "It's just...I wanted it to be a surprise, okay?"

"Hm...Okay," Eddie gave him a cheeky smile before yawning and starting to stretch, arching his back and throwing his arms above his head. All his pale skin on display made Richie's mouth water, and his Alpha itched to reach out and grab for Eddie, scratch at his skin and mark him up even further, then never let him go. Instead, he settled for leaning in and biting at one of Eddie's nipples—the one without the piercing—and then forced himself to get out of bed. "Hey!" Eddie squeaked and Richie laughed as he walked out of the room, not caring about all his nakedness on display. When Richie came back with his overnight bag from the bathroom, glasses perched on his nose and still wearing absolutely nothing else, and he could smell Eddie's interest.

"I can smell you, little Omega," Richie couldn't help but tease and Eddie narrowed his eyes.

"Beep beep, Rich," Eddie growled, but there was a laugh in his voice as he rolled out of bed as well. "I'll start breakfast while you're gone."

By the time Richie had walked back—lugging Eddie's enormous present with him—he was slightly sweaty and a lot nervous, and he used the spare set of keys that Eddie had given him before he left to unlock the front door. There was music playing and it smelt like cinnamon and happiness and Eddie was dancing in the kitchen wearing nothing but a baby blue pair of bikini cut briefs and one of Richie's shirts that hung off one shoulder. Eddie was wiggling his hips to Julia Michaels as he cut the fruit for the waffles he had whipped up.

Richie was helplessly endeared.

Eddie turned around and saw the present that Richie had brought back and his eyes went wide, lips parting.

"What...What is _that_?" Eddie scrunched up his nose.

"Guess you'll just have to wait and find out," Richie grinned. Eddie pursed his lips before reaching for a small envelope that was wrapped with a glittery red bow on top on the table and approaching Richie.

"I can find out now if we just exchange gifts now," Eddie wiggled the present in front of him. "I mean, if things hadn't worked out last night, I was just gonna slap a bow on my ass and sit on your knot until you _finally_ realized that I was yours, but this could do instead." Richie's eyes glittered at the thought, but he shook his head once so that he could focus on what was at hand.

"Sounds good," Richie agreed, because he was always down to open presents as soon as possible. But for once, he actually managed to contain his own excitement, and didn't even spare his a second glance as he watched Eddie descend on his own present.

Eddie _ripped_ at the wrapping paper, tearing it to shreds—Beverly and Richie had ended up deciding to go with three different types of wrapping paper—and he let out a cry of delight when he saw what was underneath, holding the big, plush stuffed toy in his arms.

"Oh my god!" Eddie cried out, arms full of the massive Stitch bear that Richie had decided to give him _now_ rather than for his birthday. It was nearly 60 inches in length, it would be longer than Eddie if he laid down next to it and those were the images that Richie had seen in his head over and over again when he had brought it. He may have also slept with it a few nights in a row to make sure it had his scent in it's soft, silky fur, and it seemed as though Eddie had realized that when he buried his face in the fur and breathed in heavily. When he lifted his head, his eyes were glowing and there was the most beautiful smile on his face. "Stitch is my favourite," he announced softly.

"I know, love," Richie smiled.

"You need to open yours!" Eddie jerked one hand at the thin present in Richie's hand, although it then went back to gripping his present.

"Fuck yes," Richie nodded and looked down at the present in his hand. He was a bit more careful than Eddie, since his present was smaller and felt more delicate in his hands. It looked like it was just an envelope, and when he opened it, he pulled out two tickets. "Holy shit. My Chemical Romance?!"

"You said you didn't manage to get tickets to their reunion tour," Eddie shrugged, looking adorable behind his big stuffed toy. "I managed to find some, I thought that we could go together."

Richie swept up both Eddie _and_ Stitch and smothered his giggling Omega in kisses.

* * *

Just like after his rut, Richie wasn't sure what he was expecting if he was ever lucky enough to earn Eddie's attention in the way he had hoped for. Part of him had tried not to think about it, because even though he had been so sure about Eddie, he still hadn't wanted to get ahead of himself. The other part of him sort of thought that they might end up holed away in one of their apartments, ravaging one another for weeks on end.

They definitely ended up holed away in Eddie's apartment, but it wasn't all sex.

It was awkward showers in Eddie's tiny bathroom, where Richie kept blocking out the water from the shower head, stealing all the warmth, and Eddie kept pinching his nipples in retaliation.

It was heating up leftover Christmas food or making toast because they had stayed up so late the night before, and then had a nap late in the afternoon the following day, so their sleep schedule was completely screwed up and they weren't really hungry for dinner until it was going on midnight.

It was playfully arguing over who was going to wash the dishes and who was going to dry them, and then Eddie pouting and giving him puppy dog eyes until Richie caved—pretty quickly—and agreed that he would be the one to wash them.

It was taking photos of Eddie asleep on the couch in Richie's oversized hoodie with the massive stuffed Stitch bear on the ground next to him, one hand extended so that his hand was buried in the fur.

It was talking about their families, and finding out that Eddie's mum had been abusive in a strange, psychological way that he was still trying to understand several years after her death and Richie explained that his parents were good people they just weren't particularly _close_, and he was okay with that.

It was finding one of his scarves stuffed in Eddie's pillowcase and the Omega bashfully admitting that he just slept better when he could smell Richie close.

There was _absolutely_ sex, though.

It was Eddie waking him up the day after Christmas with kitten licks to his cock before sucking him all the way down with big, innocent eyes looking up at him, but still managing a knowing smirk even with his mouth full.

It was being able to grab the Omega around the waist and pull him in close to his body whenever he wanted, putting his hand on the back of his neck and scenting him thoroughly and sweetly.

It was going deciding to get drunk and do some internet shopping which somehow devolved into sex toy shopping which turned into Eddie climbing into Richie's lap and riding him until they both came.

It was Eddie presenting himself after they got out of a shower, face down, ass up on his bed, and every Alpha instinct in Richie rising to the surface as he lunged at the smaller boy.

It was the slow, sensual roll of their bodies when they had woken up from a naked nap in Eddie's bed, their bodies warm and lazy from the sun that was coming through the large window above them, Richie's knot tying them together, his hand wrapped around Eddie's cock and his lips pressed to the back of Eddie's neck.

It was the beautiful way that Eddie submitted to him, not easily but not resentfully, in a way that made Richie feel as though he had earned it, and Richie could live a hundred life times and he was never going to get sick of the sight and beautiful scent of the Omega laid out in front of him.

* * *

On the twenty-ninth, they actually managed to drag themselves out of Eddie's apartment for a couple of hours. Richie needed more clothes—desperately—because even though Eddie had started hoarding his clothes, none of it had been underwear or pants, and even though he had spent most of his time _out_ of clothes, he still needed more than three changes of underwear. They realized that Richie had some edible gummy bears in a ziplock bag and Eddie giggled as he proposed that they eat them and go and see _Cats_.

"It's going to be terrible," Richie said with a wide grin.

"It's going to be the _worst_," Eddie agreed as he popped an orange gummy bear into his mouth.

And it was.

It was as bad as the reviews made it out to be, and as the movie continued, the second lot of gummy bears really hit and Richie and Eddie just couldn't stop laughing from where they were holed up at the back of the cinema, and what made it worse—_funnier_—was the fact that there were people at the cinema who were there to see the movie _seriously_. Richie let out a particularly loud honk at one part where Jason Derulo's cat was singing and dancing, and got a dark look from an older women a few rows in front of them. Eddie was giggling behind his hand and he twisted around to bury his face into Richie's shoulder. There was a slightly sobering moment through Jennifer Hudson's rendition of _Memory_, but they were both back to laughing a few minutes later, and afterwards, Richie was dragging Eddie into a bathroom stall to scent him and kiss him up everywhere.

There was no mistaking that they were together, their scents so tightly intertwined, but Richie made _extra_ sure, rubbing his face against Eddie's neck, spreading his scent even more thoroughly before they stumbled out of the bathroom with swollen lips, Richie's thumb tapping away on his phone as he ordered an Uber.

Their scents were _strong_ in the back seat of the Uber, and though their driver was a Beta, even he could clearly smell them, judging by the wrinkled nose that Richie caught in the rear view mirror.

Neither of them could help it though, and even though they weren't _doing_ anything, other than Richie's hand scandalously high on Eddie's thigh, their scent of arousal pulsing in the small car, strong and thick. Richie couldn't stop bouncing his knee up and down, and Eddie was chewing on his bottom lip and kept shooting looks over at the Alpha that were heated and full of intent.

They barely made it into the apartment before Richie was manhandling Eddie towards the couch. They were both panting as they bit at one anothers mouths, Eddie teasing Richie, acting as though he wanted control as his hands came up to rest on Richie's chest and almost acted as though he was going to push the Alpha away. But then he gasped and his eyes flew wide and his pupils blew as Richie's hands shot up and wrapped around Eddie's wrists, squeezing them just the right side hard.

"You don't want to be in charge here, little Omega, don't play," Richie smirked as he jerked Eddie's hands away and the arousal spiked from the Omega in front of him. Roses and honey filled his nose and he lunged forward, grabbing Eddie around the waist and throwing him over the back of the couch. There was a squeal from Eddie, and a cut off laugh before it turned into a whine as Richie's body pressed against him. Then Richie was flipping Eddie over and there was a huffed out exhale from the smaller boy before his jeans and briefs were being jerked down, and Richie's eyes rolled back at the strong scent of slick that he could see was already beginning to coat the smooth skin of his lovers edible ass. "So fucking wet already."

"Hurry _up_!" Eddie was trying to sound authoritative, but it was a little difficult when he was face down in the cushions with his jeans jerked down around his knees. Richie's eyes opened and he smiled before sliding two fingers easily into the slick hole, and he watched in delight as Eddie's back bowed and his eyes rolled back.

Eddie came once on Richie's fingers, another time as Richie wrapped a hand around the back of the Omega's neck, thumb pressed firmly to one side of his throat, and his other hand jerking Eddie off between them, and then a third time when Richie was buried inside of him. Afterwards, Richie maneuvered them both onto the couch comfortably, and he couldn't stop the way that his lips kept brushing against Eddie's shoulder, against the gentle, smooth curve.

He couldn't say_ I love you_, because it was too soon, but it was definitely building up inside of him, and he couldn't help the way his Alpha and his scent and his _everything_ showed that to Eddie.

"Me too," Eddie whispered quietly, so quietly that Richie would have missed it if he wasn't completely in sync with Eddie and his eyes fluttered open, because he _knew_ that he hadn't said the words out loud, and yet, he knew that was what Eddie was replying to. Richie couldn't stop the wide smile spreading across his face as he smushed his face against the back of Eddie's neck and just inhaled happiness.

* * *

Bringing in 2020 was with his best friends, and his Omega.

Beverly had insisted on them wearing headbands with sparkly numbers and fireworks sticking up from them announcing _2020_, and Richie's curls kept getting tangled in the skinny band whenever he and Eddie ducked into the bathroom or his bedroom to make out and Eddie's fingers ended up in his hair, but the Alpha didn't care. They were all crashing at Richie's place that night, even though it was going to be crowded and likely uncomfortable, which meant all of them were drinking, even Bill and Stan, who were usually the responsible ones, particularly Stan. They did disgusting, neon-coloured jelly shots that Ben and Mike had made, and ate the leftover Christmas food that everyone had been sent home with from their families and they took turns playing very raucous rounds of _Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled_.

"To the window, to the window!" Eddie cried out as Beverly changed the channel to the Times Square Ball Drop, just in time to watch the countdown start. "We've gotta see the fireworks!"

"I don't t-think we're going to miss t-them," Bill laughed at Eddie's eagerness as he plastered himself against the lounge windows.

"Easy for you to say," Eddie grumbled. "You don't have to stand on tiptoes to be able to see over everyones heads if you don't get a prime position." Richie grinned and reached for Eddie, tucking his Omega in front of him with his arms wrapped around his waist.

"I'll show _you_ a prime position," he slurred a little drunkenly in Eddie's ear and there was a huff from Mike, but the Beta was pressed into Bill's side and Bill's hand was rubbing his hand up and down Mike's neck in a slightly possessive manner that Mike was clearly enjoying from the way he looked like he was trying to sink his body into Bill's skin, if that were possible, so he really wasn't one to talk.

"Stop thinking with your knots!" Beverly shouted. "You can worry about them in the next decade!"

"_You're_ an Alpha, though?" Stan gave her a quizzical look.

"Semantics," Beverly shot back. "Now shut up!"

"Ooh, ooh! 8...7..." Ben began chanting in time with the TV.

"Wait, so we have to shut up but Ben gets to keep talking?" Eddie said huffily under his breath and there was a laugh from Stan and Mike. Richie just grinned as he shifted, resting his chin on top of Eddie's head, his arms moving from where his hands had resting on Eddie's hips and wrapping tightly around Eddie's chest, holding him tighter against his body.

"6...5...4!" Beverly started chanting with the TV as well, and it seemed as though she made an exception for everyone _not_ shutting up if they were counting down.

So they all joined in.

"3...2!" They were all yelling, and they weren't the only ones in the building doing it, because Richie could hear it through the thin walls coming from his neighbors, but for once he didn't care. "1! Happy New Year!" The fireworks starting going off in the distance, in at least three different locations. Mike let out a whoop and Beverly cheered but Richie just twisted Eddie's chin around gently, two fingers pressed underneath his chin so that his face was tilted upward, and brought his lips down softly on the Omegas mouth.

_His Omegas_ mouth.

Everything was going to be loud in a few seconds, when Richie came back to reality, and he was going to hug and kiss his friends and he was going to pull back and breathe in and smell everyone else, but right now, all he was getting was Eddie. He was breathing in happiness and joy and rose and sunshine and everything that was perfect in the world, and so he just wanted to be in _this_ moment. When he pulled back, nose still pressed against Eddie's, he met the other boys eyes, and Eddie was smiling at him so brightly that it made Richie's heart _hurt_ he was so happy.

"Mine," he murmured, the word only able to be heard by Eddie, given the music and the yelling around them, but that was the only person who needed to hear it. His thumb moved to brush over Eddie's lower neck, where the neckline of _Richie's_ jersey was too big for him and was partially exposing his shoulder, and he gently touched _that_ spot, where hopefully in the not-to-distance future, he would permanently leave his mark, before sliding down further, so his spread hand was resting over the Omega's heart.

"Mine," Eddie returned, eyes flashing a little, and he gripped at Richie's wrist just as tight and possessively as Richie held him, his scent strong with happiness and contentment, twine together with the joy of the rest of their friends and Richie's, the best scents in the world. Richie leaned back in for another kiss, feeling Eddie's heartbeat beat sure and true for them under his fingertips.

**Alriiiight. So. What do we think? **

**Be kind, please? Kind words are always welcome xx**

**Tumblr: SereneCalamity  
Twitter: CalamitySerene**


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